THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An initiative launched in 2002 to ensure no abandoned baby’s cries go unheard in the state is set for a significant milestone. The ‘Ammathottil’ scheme, of the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, has so far received 990 babies, senior officials said. And with the council expanding the number of centres across the state, officials say this is soon expected to touch 1,000.
In 2012, the council received its 100th baby at the Thiruvananthapuram facility — its first. Over the last three years, 108 children were received across all centres. Adoptions are also actively taking place, with as many as 70 children moving to families in the last financial year alone, including those in countries such as Italy, America and Spain.
Council general secretary G L Arun Gopi said the numbers have been steadily rising, especially in the last four years. “When parents decide to surrender a child, due to various circumstances, they trust their child to be safe with us. We are also glad that they prefer us, over options that could be harmful to the children,” he said.
Initiated by the social justice department, the scheme was the need of the hour in its early days. “There had been several disturbing incidents reported in 2000-01, including unwanted children being left in hospital waste bins and plantations. The state government began looking into solutions to address the issue of parents abandoning children, which resulted in the setting up of Ammathottil,” a former official who worked on the project told TNIE.
Electronic cradles were deployed in the initial phase itself with the help of students of College of Engineering Trivandrum.
The project received a major facelift in 2017, when the cradles were upgraded.
This allowed for alerts to be sent to centre heads when a child is received at their facilities.
An alert would also be received at the centre to which the cradle is attached, along with a photo of the child. Currently, there are hi-tech cradles in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode.
Moreover, electronic cradles are available in all districts except Idukki, Wayanad and Kannur, and most of them are attached to district or taluk hospitals there.
While the council’s office in Thiruvananthapuram has ample facilities for preliminary treatment of the children, treatment for children in other districts are taken care of by the adjoining institution.The project was brought under the women and child development department in 2019.