Gujarat hospital to waive off fee, if mother delivers girl child

In a bid to improve its skewed sex ratio, a Gujarat hospital has announced that it will waive off the hospital fee, if a mother delivers a girl child in its hospital.

The Ahmedabad-based Sindhu Hospital launched this initiative last month to counter the appalling sex ratio of 890 girls per 1,000 boys in the state, which is below the national average, The Times of India had reported.

Till now 150 couples have registered for a free delivery. A normal delivery costs ₹7,000 while a C-section costs ₹20,000, TOI reported. 

The Ahmedabad hospital also has announced that it will return ₹1,100 registration fee on the birth of a baby girl and throw a small party for her.

The Sindhu hospital in Ahmedabad said the “special offer” has been introduced to help “celebrate the arrival of a daughter”.

"For years, we observed that majority of women who got admitted for delivery hoped and prayed for a boy. Sweets would be distributed on birth of a male child but a girl's arrival would be met with stoic acceptance,” managing director Mahadev Lohana told the Times of India. 

“The country and every community needs to celebrate birth of a girl," he said.

Despite pre-natal gender testing officially being illegal in India since 1994, according to The Lancet medical journal in 2011 said that up to 12 million girls had been aborted in India in the past three decades, reported The Telegaph. 

The male to female sex ratio in Gujarat currently is 890 girls for every 1,000 boys, which is considerably below the national average of 919.