Hyderabad, November 09: Babies born at government maternity hospitals in city are being delivered to parents with a price tag, threats extra: You can get a glimpse of your baby boy/girl only if you cough up Rs 500/Rs 400 respectively; at some hospitals it costs even more.
Humiliated parents have been unwillingly bending to the diktat out of fear that the Class IV staff — who routinely deny them right to have their babies unless they grease the palms of aayas, operation theatre (OT) assistants and even sweepers — may harm the baby. There are set rates for everything — from handing over a newborn to shifting the mother to changing her dress. Ideally, all this should come for free.
While the rates at Government Maternity Hospital, Petlaburj, is Rs 500/Rs 400 for a boy/girl respectively — the norm in most hospitals — patients end up paying anywhere between Rs 100 and Rs 1,000 at Gandhi Hospital. Post-delivery, only Rs 100 can melt the staff to change the patient’s clothes. For smaller mercies, a tip of Rs 50 is routine.
According to patients, bargaining only prolongs the agony because these offenders rarely offer a discount. And there’s never an off-season for harassment. “My wife delivered a baby boy today. The hospital attendants and aaya refused to give me my child unless I paid. They refused Rs 200 that I offered and, in the end, I was forced to shell out Rs 500,” said G Srinivas while he waited outside the post-operative ward at Petlaburj.
Scared parents also prefer to play it safe rather than be sorry later. “I couldn’t do anything but relent as I was eager to see my child and also afraid that they might harm the baby if I protest,” said Jabeen Sultana of Misrigunj, who delivered her third baby at the hospital.
—Agencies