Welcome the baby girl
A private hospital in Ahmedabad, India has announced that it will waive the medical fees involved in childbirth at their hospital if the newborn is a girl. WOW! Great move. Hospital authorities say that they have seen families wait expectantly and rejoice at the birth of a male child, while the birth of a baby girl is met with stoic acceptance. (Common scenario in India). They wanted to encourage people to celebrate the birth of a female child. What better way to do so than give a financial sop for the same.
It took a private hospital to come up with such an innovative idea, while the government gives lip service to the cause of female empowerment. Why can't all government owned hospitals across the country do the same? This would be a spur to change the skewed ratio between men and women in most Indian states.
Of course, female empowerment is happening by bits and pieces in India. One encouraging step is the doing away of the provision of a father's name in the passport of a child. Only the mother's name would suffice. This is a positive step towards boosting the status and dignity of the mother, especially if she happens to be estranged from her spouse.
State governments of many regions are giving sops to girls in the form of monthly allowance or cycles or even computers. But these steps do not address the root cause of the problem, that of not wanting a female child to be born by a family. That issue needs to be treated seriously and addressed immediately. The above move is just a baby step in the right direction.
It took a private hospital to come up with such an innovative idea, while the government gives lip service to the cause of female empowerment. Why can't all government owned hospitals across the country do the same? This would be a spur to change the skewed ratio between men and women in most Indian states.
Of course, female empowerment is happening by bits and pieces in India. One encouraging step is the doing away of the provision of a father's name in the passport of a child. Only the mother's name would suffice. This is a positive step towards boosting the status and dignity of the mother, especially if she happens to be estranged from her spouse.
State governments of many regions are giving sops to girls in the form of monthly allowance or cycles or even computers. But these steps do not address the root cause of the problem, that of not wanting a female child to be born by a family. That issue needs to be treated seriously and addressed immediately. The above move is just a baby step in the right direction.
Comments
Post a Comment