Mumbai : Even as it threatens our bank accounts and phone services, the contentious Aadhaar Card has now given birth to a problem for pregnant women as well.
This is what Sana Khan – 23 years old and four months pregnant – realised when she went to a BMC maternity home, only to be turned away because she did not hold an Aadhaar Card. It was only after the intervention of activists that the hospital agreed to register her for maternity care.
The Kurla resident, who is expecting her first child, had gone to Meenatai Thackeray Maternity Home at Chunabhatti to sign up for Ante-Natal Care (ANC). But instead of helping the pregnant woman, the hospital staffers turned her away repeatedly, kept her waiting for hours and, allegedly, even insulted and pushed her.
She recalled, “I went there first on October 10, but for no reason, the hospital staff asked me to return later for the registration. On October 18, I went again with my father and they asked for Aadhaar card and bank account details. When I told them that it would take me at least a month to arrange for the documents, they asked me to return after Diwali.”
Khan was on her own during this ordeal; her husband works in Dubai and she stays with her parents in Kurla. Yesterday, at 10 am, she visited the hospital for the third time but got the same response. “First, they made me wait for two hours. Then a female helper at the counter once again asked for my Aadhar card in a very rude manner. I repeatedly told her that it would take time to arrange for the card, but this led to a heated argument and she pushed me,” Khan alleged.
After suffering this humiliation, Khan returned home at noon. Fortunately, two local activists came to her aid and took up the issue with the hospital management. Just two hours later, around 2 pm, Khan got a call from the hospital, asking her to return for the ANC registration.
Dr Saeeda Khan, NCP member and one of the activists who helped her, said, “A female helper at the counter was asking all the patients for their Aadhaar card. But when I inquired with the senior authorities at the hospital, they admitted that no such instruction had been given to the hospital to make Aadhaar mandatory.”
She added, “Locals informed that four other patients had been rejected by the hospital. In fact, one of them delivered her baby while being moved to Rajawadi Hospital.
