Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Nov 13: To encourage the safe surrender of infants and prevent abandonment in dustbins, garbage or drains, the District Child Protection Unit is promoting the ‘Mamatheya Thottilu’ programme in Bengaluru.
The initiative allows parents to leave infants in cradles placed at 42 locations across the city without fear of being identified or pursued by officials or police.
Meenakshi S Kabedi, district child protection officer, Bengaluru East, said, “The purpose of Mamatheya Thottilu or the ‘cradle of compassion’ is to ensure that the child is not harmed as it would be when abandoned at random places. It also ensures that every abandoned child enters the adoption system legally and ethically. In most POCSO cases, girls realise too late that they are pregnant after sexual abuse or unprotected sex. They often tend to abandon the child, fearing police action and punishment.”
She added, “Such children can be left in these cradles, which are placed at seven locations in the East Zone of Bengaluru, with no CCTV monitoring. Locations include C V Raman General Hospital, the Primary Health Centres in Varthur and Avalahalli, St Michael’s Home Convent, Shishu Mandir, Taluk Hospital, and DCPO in K R Puram. Mothers can also call 1098 or 112, and we will ensure the infant is collected confidentially. We lay more stress on child protection than child adoption now.”
Haleema, project director at the Directorate of Child Protection, said that 25 infants were found abandoned in public places across the state in the past year alone.
“The Mamatheya Thottilu programme has completed a year now. So far, we have received only one infant. The programme also facilitates the safe surrender of differently-abled children so that they can be cared for at government-run and NGO-run institutions. There are 21 government-run child adoption agencies in 21 districts and 24 privately run specialised adoption agencies operated by NGOs. This financial year, we have facilitated the adoption of 190 children, and the number is likely to increase in the remaining four months. Two children are eligible for inter-country adoption, and the process is in progress.”
Karnataka is not the first state to implement the programme. Tamil Nadu introduced it first, followed by Kerala, and then other states, including Karnataka. Experts noted that Tamil Nadu launched the initiative after cases of female infanticide started rising in Usilampatti.
Child rights activist Nagasimha G Rao said, “There are grey areas, as this may encourage abandonment of female children. However, instead of being killed or discriminated against by their biological parents, these girls will at least be taken into good care in child care institutions and put up for adoption. They will grow up in a respectable family and receive a good education.”