Moved by the incident of a woman delivering baby on a pavement last year, a division bench comprising Delhi high court Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjeev Khanna on Wednesday directed the city government to provide two exclusive shelters for destitute, pregnant and lactating women within a week.
The court passed the order after taking the matter on the basis of a note, along with media clippings, sent by Justice S. Muralidhar who drew the bench’s attention that the city witnessed the shocking incident despite an order by him for taking care of destitute pregnant women and post-natal care of babies.
On July 26, 2010, a woman gave birth to a baby girl on a footpath in Connaught Place and died later.
The court said, “It is shameful that the baby stepped into the world on the footpath despite so many welfare schemes for the care of pregnant women and new-born babies in place”.