Babies born at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hospitals will be protected from theft by biometric identification markers. The decision,which follows the theft of a baby from the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion),was announced by the state government a day after the Bombay High Court ordered the suspension of a doctor and a nurse of the hospital. The biometric system to be implemented in three months will involve collection of footprints,thumbprints and retina records of every newborn. Hospitals will also take up,as a priority,the long-pending demand for installation of closed-circuit cameras,along with identification cards for visitors and restricted entry as is the practice in private hospitals. These decisions were taken at a meeting held on Thursday afternoon to discuss measures to be taken in the wake of the baby theft. Initially,some corporation hospitals,from where such cases have been reported,have been asked to ensure all security measures like CCTV cameras and biometric identification system. These will be later set up at government hospitals as well, said Labour Minister Nawab Mallik. A baby boy had gone missing from the hospital in Sion on January 1. Mohan Nerurkar,the babys father,had moved a habeas corpus petition in the court. The biometric identification and CCTV systems will be implemented in three months as there are several issues about security and surveillance, said Mallik. Moreover,those behind these thefts are not professionals,but people looking for sons. There needs to be an awareness campaign on this; even adoption can be simplified, he said. While hearing the case,the Bombay High Court had directed Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor to attend the court next week to explain the steps taken by his officers to find the baby. The court had also asked Municipal Commissioner Jairaj Phatak to initiate an inquiry against the staff concerned. It also directed that the doctor-in-charge and sister-in-charge of the ward concerned be suspended from services until the inquiry was completed.
