BMC to hire 500 pvt guards to keep out baby thieves……..Shweta Desai
Mumbai The BMC will post 500 private guards at labour rooms, maternity wards and babies’ rooms in its hospitals, a year after a four-day-old was stolen from Sion Hospital and the High Court ordered stricter security measures.
The BMC runs 24 maternity homes. “We will hire private guards for all maternity wards, labour rooms and the rooms where newborns are kept. We had informed the court about the delay but have begun the process now,” said additional municipal commissioner A K Singh, in charge of security.
The BMC runs 24 maternity homes. “We will hire private guards for all maternity wards, labour rooms and the rooms where newborns are kept. We had informed the court about the delay but have begun the process now,” said additional municipal commissioner A K Singh, in charge of security.
Major hospitals like KEM and Sion have BMC guards; it is the first time private ones will be hired for maternity homes. Officials said recruitment of BMC guards involves a long process; hence the decision to hire private ones. “We would have had to create additional posts which would not have been possible in such a short time,” Singh said.
Apart from manning maternity hospitals, the private guards will be in charge of non-critical areas such as ward offices, schools and other civic properties. “This will reduce the burden on our guards, who have the responsibility of the BMC head office and vital installations including dams and lakes,” said chief security officer S D Kulkarni. Each set of guards will have specified duties.
On January 1 last year, when Mohini Nerurkar had stepped out of the Sion Hospital ward, her four-day-old son was stolen by a woman posing as a relative. After the police failed to find the baby, the Nerurkars moved the High Court which asked the BMC to pay the parents Rs 5 lakh.