Kerala: Malfunctioning cradles threaten abandoned newborns

Alappuzha: In order stop some women from abandoning their babies in forests, the state government had facilitated the creation of Ammathottils (cradles) at 15 places in Kerala. Since 2001, as many as 300 newborns had been received by the Child Welfare Council through these facilities. No questions were asked as to why the woman was abandoning the baby in the Ammathottil. However, a majority of these Ammathottils are becoming dysfunctional, endangering the lives of babies who could have been saved. In these facilities, a small door is kept open with a cradle inside. Every time a baby is placed in this cradle, an alarm was supposed to alert officials to save the baby. In the recent past, these alarms have failed.

Even the door at Ammathottils is kept closed, resulting in children woman not being comfortable to place the kid in the facility and abandoning them in the forests or waysides. Eight months ago, on December 31, 2015, the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KeSCPCR), passed an order to repair Ammathottils in the state after taking into consideration the pitiable state of the facility at Pathanamthitta which received 22 children over five years. However, nothing has changed on the ground.

Officials in the Child Welfare Council blame dissolution of district Child Welfare Councils for the pitiable state of affairs. It was they who were monitoring these Ammathottils. The councils were dissolved when the Juvenile Justice Act 2005 (JJ Act) came into effect. The state council, which was unable properly monitor Ammathottils, was given the responsibility. Muhammad Ismail, former administrative officer in the council, said that the onus of its maintenance was given to Sahya Valley Technologies (P) Ltd, Thiruvananthapuram.

He said that he had directed the company to repair the malfunctioning cradles several times. “When I stepped down from the council three months ago Ammathottils were functioning properly,” he said. The council requested the KeSCPCR, to hand over the charge of monitoring Ammathottils to all hospital superintendents. An official at the Women and Children Hospital, Alappuzha where the Ammathottils facility is present, told this newspaper that it is dysfunctional. Earlier this year, in January and May, two babies were abandoned in Wand C hospital premises as the Ammathottil was not functioning.