Chennai, July 08: The Madras High Court has directed the Government Pleader to file a detailed counter affidavit, along with supporting documents on a petition filed against the cradle-baby recipient scheme. A Division Bench, comprising Justices D Murugesan and K Venkataraman, yesterday posted the matter for July 16.
In its petition, the Development Education and Environment Protection Society at Pennagaram in Dharmapuri, submitted that the scheme was not a positive alternative to prevent female infanticide.
Instead, it intensified parental negligence. The scheme violated the right of the child as well as the United Nations children’s charter. It denied the newborn girl child the right to live with her parents, drink her mother’s milk and be brought up in their cultural milieu.
Because of the scheme, society would not know what happened to these children, where they had gone and what their condition was. The scheme denied property rights to children and legitimised the traditional discrimination against the girl child. The petitioner prayed the court to declare the scheme illegal.
–Agencies