New Delhi March 30: A proposal to impart sex education in schools as part of anti-AIDS course has been rejected outright by Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, the first two states to turn down the idea even before it is implemented.

Reacting to the proposal, Karnataka Education Minister Basavaraj Horatti says, "In today's world, we need moral education and not sex education."

"Sex education as a subject was to be introduced in schools to create AIDS awareness. But, school-going children are too young to contract the disease. It will unnecessarily affected their tender minds," he claims.

The recommendation for sex education in schools came in the wake of reports showing that AIDS has reached epidemic proportions in some parts of India.

The moral police is already out against the proposal in different states. Islamic radicals in Maharahstra and the BJP Government in Madhya Pradesh too have turned down the proposal.

"The need is for value-based education, for training in yoga, for culture-based education. That's why we are not going to give sex education anymore. We don't need it. We need yoga," Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has gone on record as saying.

The Students' Islamic Organisation of India has also voiced its opposition against the proposal. "This course doesn't encourage good moral behaviour. It encourages AIDS," a leader of the organisation said.

CNN-IBN