A majority of abandoned newborns are still girls

15 found and rescued in past 18 months in Prayagraj region

PRAYAGRAJ: A large number of newborn girls are being abandoned in Prayagraj district. If Childline (Prayagraj) data is to be believed, they have rescued 19 newborns in the past yearand-a–half including 15 girls and four boys.

The NGO rescued/received 11 newborns between April 2019 and March 2020 including nine girls and two boys.

Between April 2020 and November 2020, they have saved lives of eight newborns including six girls.

On an average, Childline is rescuing a newborn every month from garbage dumps, sides of drains or other public places where they are abandoned, officials said. As a majority of the abandoned newborns were girls, it indicates the mindset of society towards them has still not changed, they added.

Childline coordinator Vijay Srivastava said that the organisation is dedicated to rescuing abandoned newborns. Childline members remain on the alert round the clock and rush to the spot as soon as they receive information about a newborn being found. The child is immediately admitted to hospital to save its life.

Child Welfare Committee magistrate Mohd Hasan Zaidi said that the negative mentality towards the girl child is still prevalent among people in many Northern parts of the country which is resulting in abandoning girls, while the number of rescued boys is comparatively very low.

Such incidents are much lower in Southern and Western parts of the country. However, Zaidi said that there are many other reasons behind the recovery of newborns in open places or garbage dumps.

Poverty often forces parents to desert their newborn child while in many cases newborns are stolen and thrown to settle old scores. Surveys have also revealed that an unwanted pregnancy is also one big reason for abandoning newborns.