Last year, a newborn girl was found from a garbage heap just outside Rajkot. Her adoptive parents will finally fly her to Italy in the coming weeks. The Ahmedabad Regional Passport Office has finally issued her a passport.
Covered in blood and dirt when found, she was first admitted to the Rajkot Civil Hospital where doctors found that she was bitten all over the body by stray dogs. It was Rajkot Police Commissioner Manoj Agarwal who gave her the name ‘Amba’. There was a flood of sympathies for the little girl who, according to the doctors, had little chance for survival. The then CM Vijay Rupani had also visited her at the hospital.
According to Haresh Vora, president, Kathiawar Balashram, “Amba was put under the special needs category as she was physically and mentally weak. After 22 months of stay at the orphanage, where the staff gave her a lot of love and care, Amba has fully recovered. In June this year, Italian couple Planc Catherine and Gunthar decided to adopt her.”
Catherine serves as a senior nurse; her husband is an IT consultant. After following stringent procedures for adoption which also included the judge’s video conference with the Italian couple, finally an NOC for adoption was given by the court. According to Wren Mishra, RPO Ahmedabad, “Today Amba was issued an Indian passport by the Ahmedabad Regional Passport office. The procedure was initiated by Rajkot’s Balashram. Amba was brought to the Ahmedabad Passport Office on Thursday and the authorities issued her the passport pronto.”
Rajkot Police Commissioner Manoj Agarwal was also instrumental in ensuring procedures were in place. Mishra said that adoption was a complicated process and the NOC issued by the court aided in issuance of the passport to the child. Amba’s adoptive parents have been informed about the passport and they would be visiting the country in two months’ time to take her along. They would subsequently apply for Italian citizenship for Amba.
