#CelebrateGirlChild: Bengaluru's First-born Girl Child Gets Rs 5 Lakhs

As promised, Bengaluru's first-born girl child on the first day of 2018,  in a Government Hospital, has received a sum of Rs 5 Lakh from the Mayor of the state.

Speaking to the media, Sampat Raj, Mayor Bengaluru said, "A joint account in the name of the joint commissioner of the BBMP and the girl will be opened and the interest earned out of the 5 lakh rupees will be spent to meet the expenses on her education."

The daughter of Pushpa and husband Gopi, a salesperson, from Rajajinagar, will get free education from the authority till her under graduation. The award was given from the Mayor's Special Fund.

Pushpa (30) gave birth at Dr Nagaraju Memorial Maternity Hospital (a civil hospital) at Bhashyam Circle, Rajajinagar on January 1. The newborn immediately was gifted a certificate of guarantee of Rs 5 lakh.

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Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palika (BBMP) promised at the end of last year to celebrate the birth of a girl child with free education. And, they kept it.

Raj further told NDTV, “this particular initiative has been taken in order to protect the girl child as many financially weak families kill their girl child.”

"I was not aware of the scheme that the first girl child of the year would get Rs 5 Lakh. The nurse in the maternity ward told me about it. I did not believe, but when officials came to see me the next day... There was no way not to believe," said the elated mother.

According to media reports, the mayor earlier had announced, "Pregnant women who go to civic hospitals for delivery are from poor families and unfortunately think a girl child is a burden for them to bring up.”

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Pushpa works in Vidhan Soudha on contract and Gopi is a sales representative in a private firm. The proud couple now wants the daughter to become a civil servant.

Well done Bangalore. A beautiful gesture to start the new year!

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Feature image credit: NDTV

Read More Stories By Ria Das