JOIN USIt was double joy for Pushpa and her husband Gopi M on the first day of 2018. Not only were they blessed with a baby girl, but were presented a cheque of Rs 5 lakh by the city municipal body.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on December 29 had announced that it would award all baby girls born at the stroke of midnight in BBMP hospitals on January 1, 2018, Rs 5 lakh for their education. BBMP would deposit the money in a joint bank account held by the BBMP commissioner and the girl child, where the girl can use the money for her education.
"I did not know about it till the mayor himself came and spoke to us about the scheme. The doctor informed us at 9.30 am that mayor would visit the hospital but we did not know why," said Gopi.
Gopi, who is working as a salesman, is determined to educate his daughter. "People around us have been talking about how difficult it is to bring up a girl child. But if we have been blessed with such good things on the very first day of her birth, then she sure is an achiever. I shall let her pursue all her dreams," said Gopi.
"We were happy to know about the birth of a baby girl on the first day. Often, poor people think it is a burden to fund a girl's education. The interest that accumulates in the account will come in handy when she is of age to go to school," said Mayor R Sampath Raj.
The child was born at 12.05 am on January 1 at the Dr Nagaraj Memorial maternity hospital near Bhashyam Circle, Rajajinagar. Four births were reported in BBMP hospitals, of which the couple gave birth to a baby girl.