JAIPUR: Parents of a baby boy, born on a flight from Bengaluru to Jaipur in March, are now struggling to get a birth certificate.
The baby was born on March 17 with the help of the Indigo flight crew and Dr Subahana Nazir, who was travelling on the same flight, 6E 469.
According to government rules, the birth certificate is to be issued within 21 days of a baby being born.
When the baby was born in the flight at a height of 33,000, the family of Bhairon Singh, the father of the baby, had suddenly hit the headlines across the country. Despite the publicity they garnered due to this unique mid-air adventure, their difficulties on the ground did not in any way lessen. Nearly three weeks after that exceptional birth, the baby’s father who is an auto-driver in Bengaluru is running from pillar to post to get the child’s birth certificate issued.
Soon after the aircraft had landed at Jaipur airport on the morning of March 17, the mother and the child were rushed to a private hospital for examination. The doctors found them to be perfectly healthy. But Bhairon Singh, the father, found the hospital too expensive and took his wife and the baby to his village near Beawar town in Ajmer district.
A few days after reaching the village, Bhairon Singh said he started the process of getting the birth certificate. But as he is not well-educated, the government machinery is giving him quite a run-around and is forcing him to make multiple trips to different offices.
The infant’s father first approached the sarpanch who then asked him to go to a government hospital from where he was sent to another hospital. Bhairon Singh says officials seem quite confused since the baby was born mid-air. Although he has been assured that he will get it at the earliest, the birth certificate remains elusive despite numerous trips to various government offices.
“I first approached the post office in the village Surajpura but an employee said that I should go to the Jawaja hospital in our area. Later, I was told that I should go to the Jaipur airport and get a certificate from there. Each office wasted three to four days."
Bhairon Singh says he even tried to ring up the authorities at Jaipur airport but he was not given any clear answer. Even though Indigo Airlines gave him some response and even inquired about his son’s health, they too could not give any concrete help in getting the birth certificate for the baby born on their flight.
The New Indian Express was told that the Jaipur Municipal Corporation can issue the birth certificate as the child was born on a flight that landed in Jaipur. But before that, the child’s parents will need to file a written application with the airport authority in Jaipur to send a letter to the Jaipur Municipal Corporation about the child’s birth mid-air on an Indigo flight.