Panaji, July 22 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday sought a ban on contraceptive pill advertisements on television, saying it encouraged unprotected sex and increased the possibility of AIDS.

Speaking during Question Hour in the Goa assembly, BJP's Damodar Naik said the state health department should urge the central government to ban "I-Pill ads".

"On one hand you promote the use of condoms to prevent AIDS and on the other hand television channels are promoting I-Pill. The state government should talk to the central ministry and ban these advertisements," Naik said.

He said that I-Pills were becoming a rage amongst the young, who he added were emboldened by the new age contraceptives to have unprotected sex.

Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar said that several claims made in the contraceptive pill advertisements were misleading.

"The claim that the pill is effective for 72 hours is not correct. It has to be used within 12 hours. By the third day, its effectiveness is only 50 percent. The advertisements should be stopped," the BJP leader said.