MANGALDAI, Oct 15 - A festive atmosphere prevails in Assam and the neighbouring West Bengal now. Festival means offering different kinds of gifts to near and dear ones. Can one think what can be the special gift for a married couple remaining childless for the last seven years of their conjugal life.
Yes, there might not be any other precious puja gift than a healthy baby for such couple residing any where in India including West Bengal. Darrang district, has become a witness to such a precious Durga Puja gift for a married couple of West Bengal. On Saturday, this couple from Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal took home this precious gift in the form of a two-and-a-half month-old healthy male baby as his foster parents after a long legal procedure framed by Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) under Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt of India.
The Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) received the baby for pre-adoption foster care from the Specialised Adoption Agency, namely �Aai� under the management of voluntary organisation Crystal Vision, Mangaldai.
This baby who was earlier surrendered by his biological parents thus created history as the first baby adopted legally from the district. Earlier, on Friday afternoon, a simple farewell ceremony was organised at the SAA where he has been growing under utmost care for the last couple of months. It was a visibly emotional moment, for the members of Crystal Vision, the staff and caretakers of SAA, members of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and all other well-wishers, who were present on the occasion as they burst into tears the moment Assistant Commissioner Hemashri Khanikar, as the representative of the Deputy Commissioner wrapped the baby in a traditional Assamese gamosa and handed him over to his foster parents.
�I really feel very much proud to be a part of this historic moment. I am thankful to the staff of SAA for offering motherly care to this baby to give him a very healthy look and I hope his new parents would offer him more possible care and protection than in the SAA,� the Executive Magistrate Hemashri stated. Senior consultant pediatrician, Dr Gautam Bora, who has been monitoring the health of the baby was also full of praise for the service of the caretakers of the SAA in keeping a good sound health of the baby. �I never found that the staff of the SAA had considered him an orphan, All including myself got deeply involved in his overall growth and gaining a weight of almost 7.5 kg at this age is one proof of such involvement,� Dr Bora added.
Mollika Sutradhar, the senior most caretaker observed that �Rup� (name changed) was like an angel of God to the centre and his absence in the centre can never can be filled. �Absence of Rup has created a big void in the minds of all of us but he will fill the bigger void of caring parents, that�s our satisfaction.� Meanwhile, �Rup� is stated to have been accorded a grand welcome by the local people in a traditional way on his arrival with his foster parents at Dinajpur on Sunday.
The farewell function was also attended by the ADC, Darrang, Pankaj Chakravarty, Chairman, Mangaldai Muncipal Board, Pratap Bordoloi, AEE, PWD (NH) Ainul Haque, Director, SRD, Group, Rajib Kr Deka, Member of CWC, Darrang, Purnima Goswami, Protection Officer (NIC) Kanaklata Barua, child activist Rashmi Rekha Sarma among others.
