Education department refuses to give admission to an abandoned child
When Rekha Patel, a housemaid, was returning home from work at Adjan, she thought she heard the wails of a newborn infant coming out from a plastic bag that a pack of stray dogs were fighting over, in a rubbish bin.
Three years since that evening when Rekha chased away the dogs, held the bleeding infant girl in her arms, and ran to the hospital, the child has become a question mark for the state Education Department. Reborn in a rubbish bin, she has no birth certificate, and the law says she can’t be admitted to a school without one.
After the rescue, Rekha had tended to the infant girl for over a week, at the New Civil hospital, praying she would recover from the dog bites. When she did, no one could tell her what to do with the baby. She had two chronically ailing and unemployed sons in their thirties and an equally ill husband back home, all living on whatever meagre she earned as a housemaid.
But Rekha, nevertheless, decided to bring up the infant girl as her own. She took her home, called in the neighbours, distributed sweets to announce her new child. While many offered to adopt the infant, she refused, bringing her up as her own with whatever little she earned. Since she came to her from nowhere, Rekha named the baby Falak (sky) and celebrated every June 14, the day she rescued her from the dogs, as her birthday.
Eager to give her a good education, Rekha approached the trustees of the Nutan School near her home this March, where authorities insisted on the child’s birth certificate. They admitted Falak to the school on April 3, but gave Rekha a month’s time to get the birth certificate.
As the deadline approached, someone advised Rekha that she could try for an affidavit in lieu of the birth certificate, but the school rejected it. Even a visit to the Surat district Panchayat office and later to the district primary education office, were of no avail. Falak is no longer allowed into the school.
Now, every morning, Rekha goes to the District Panchayat Office in the hope that someone might help her with Falak’s birth certificate. But the regular visits are also putting a strain on her family’s income, as she happens to be the sole bread-winner.
But Rekha is steadfast in her endeavour to make Falak a doctor. “All that I need is her birth certificate. The school says that an age proof is required as they have to maintain a register, but what can I do? She is a bright child. She can recognise fruits, colours, animals. I have brought her a school uniform, books and everything else. I used to give her biscuits and fruits in a lunch box, everyday when she went to school,” said Rekha.
District Primary Education Officer Dr P N Dave said he has spoken to the school trustees and requested them to allow Falak to study and to charge no fees from her. “I also had a talk with a paediatrician, Dr. Nirmal Choradia, and the girl will be taken to his hospital for confirming her age. We will give her a birth certificate after that.”
Abandoned girl dies in hospital
The newly-born abandoned baby-girl recovered from near the railway tracks in the Ranip area, died at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Wednesday. Sabarmati Police had found the girl on Tuesday and rushed her to the hospital for treatment. Sub-Inspector G J Jadeja said one Bhogilal Patel from Rajeshwari Society in Ranip had first spotted the girl lying near a tree. He immediately informed the police and the 108 ambulance. The girl was then shifted to the Civil Hospital. He said doctors on duty told them that the girl was only one-day-old. “She was not well even when she was admitted to the hospital and died on Wednesday. Investigations are on to find out the woman who must have abandoned the girl at the spot,” he said.
Courtesy : www.expressindia.com
When Rekha Patel, a housemaid, was returning home from work at Adjan, she thought she heard the wails of a newborn infant coming out from a plastic bag that a pack of stray dogs were fighting over, in a rubbish bin.
Three years since that evening when Rekha chased away the dogs, held the bleeding infant girl in her arms, and ran to the hospital, the child has become a question mark for the state Education Department. Reborn in a rubbish bin, she has no birth certificate, and the law says she can’t be admitted to a school without one.
After the rescue, Rekha had tended to the infant girl for over a week, at the New Civil hospital, praying she would recover from the dog bites. When she did, no one could tell her what to do with the baby. She had two chronically ailing and unemployed sons in their thirties and an equally ill husband back home, all living on whatever meagre she earned as a housemaid.
But Rekha, nevertheless, decided to bring up the infant girl as her own. She took her home, called in the neighbours, distributed sweets to announce her new child. While many offered to adopt the infant, she refused, bringing her up as her own with whatever little she earned. Since she came to her from nowhere, Rekha named the baby Falak (sky) and celebrated every June 14, the day she rescued her from the dogs, as her birthday.
Eager to give her a good education, Rekha approached the trustees of the Nutan School near her home this March, where authorities insisted on the child’s birth certificate. They admitted Falak to the school on April 3, but gave Rekha a month’s time to get the birth certificate.
As the deadline approached, someone advised Rekha that she could try for an affidavit in lieu of the birth certificate, but the school rejected it. Even a visit to the Surat district Panchayat office and later to the district primary education office, were of no avail. Falak is no longer allowed into the school.
Now, every morning, Rekha goes to the District Panchayat Office in the hope that someone might help her with Falak’s birth certificate. But the regular visits are also putting a strain on her family’s income, as she happens to be the sole bread-winner.
But Rekha is steadfast in her endeavour to make Falak a doctor. “All that I need is her birth certificate. The school says that an age proof is required as they have to maintain a register, but what can I do? She is a bright child. She can recognise fruits, colours, animals. I have brought her a school uniform, books and everything else. I used to give her biscuits and fruits in a lunch box, everyday when she went to school,” said Rekha.
District Primary Education Officer Dr P N Dave said he has spoken to the school trustees and requested them to allow Falak to study and to charge no fees from her. “I also had a talk with a paediatrician, Dr. Nirmal Choradia, and the girl will be taken to his hospital for confirming her age. We will give her a birth certificate after that.”
Abandoned girl dies in hospital
The newly-born abandoned baby-girl recovered from near the railway tracks in the Ranip area, died at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on Wednesday. Sabarmati Police had found the girl on Tuesday and rushed her to the hospital for treatment. Sub-Inspector G J Jadeja said one Bhogilal Patel from Rajeshwari Society in Ranip had first spotted the girl lying near a tree. He immediately informed the police and the 108 ambulance. The girl was then shifted to the Civil Hospital. He said doctors on duty told them that the girl was only one-day-old. “She was not well even when she was admitted to the hospital and died on Wednesday. Investigations are on to find out the woman who must have abandoned the girl at the spot,” he said.
Courtesy : www.expressindia.com