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This story is from January 1, 2007
Just where is the country's billionth baby?
Ashok is burdened with the onerous tag of being father to India's billionth baby, and finds it difficult to make ends meet.
NEW DELHI: Six years ago on May 11, Astha was born. In Safdarjung hospital in Delhi. A sweet, chubby child born under the arc lights and feted by the media. She was after all India's billionth baby.
Her birth was declared as a "rare historical event in human civilisation which is unlikely to be replaced for a long time to come."
The then minister for women and child welfare Sumitra Mahajan and local MP Sahib Singh Verma had come to her residence with gifts.
After six months, a doctor from Safdarjung hospital came to see the baby.
But life has changed for the little girl and her poor parents, Ashok and Anjana Arora. No one has since bothered to enquire about her well-being.
A little bit of prodding is enough to get her to jive to Crazy kiya re. She's most regular in school and doesn't want to miss classes even for a day. She wants to be a doctor, after all.
Ashok, a vegetable-seller, knows a miracle is living in his house. But it's tough. Not only is he burdened with the onerous tag of being father to India's billionth baby, he finds it difficult to make ends meet.
He also has an elder son. "It's a battle to survive," admits Anjana. "But I have not lost hope and I am sure we would be able to give Astha the best possible education to become a doctor."
The UN Population Fund has given a grant of Rs 2 lakh for her education. "The money is in the bank and we can draw the interest only when Astha becomes 10," says Ashok.
"Though we could not put her in a reputed public school, we have somehow managed to admit her in a nearby school." Both Mahajan and Verma, says Anjana, had promised her a job, but nothing happened. Meanwhile, she found a job in a beauty parlour. Astha's proud father looks to the future with hope.
Her birth was declared as a "rare historical event in human civilisation which is unlikely to be replaced for a long time to come."
The then minister for women and child welfare Sumitra Mahajan and local MP Sahib Singh Verma had come to her residence with gifts.
But life has changed for the little girl and her poor parents, Ashok and Anjana Arora. No one has since bothered to enquire about her well-being.
Finding her in the narrow bylanes of Heera Park in Najafgarh on the outskirts of Delhi wasn't easy. She was playing cricket with her friends in her cramped house. Unmindful of the poverty and squalor around her, she looks cheerful.
A little bit of prodding is enough to get her to jive to Crazy kiya re. She's most regular in school and doesn't want to miss classes even for a day. She wants to be a doctor, after all.
Ashok, a vegetable-seller, knows a miracle is living in his house. But it's tough. Not only is he burdened with the onerous tag of being father to India's billionth baby, he finds it difficult to make ends meet.
He also has an elder son. "It's a battle to survive," admits Anjana. "But I have not lost hope and I am sure we would be able to give Astha the best possible education to become a doctor."
The UN Population Fund has given a grant of Rs 2 lakh for her education. "The money is in the bank and we can draw the interest only when Astha becomes 10," says Ashok.
"Though we could not put her in a reputed public school, we have somehow managed to admit her in a nearby school." Both Mahajan and Verma, says Anjana, had promised her a job, but nothing happened. Meanwhile, she found a job in a beauty parlour. Astha's proud father looks to the future with hope.
End of Article
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