9-month-old’s plea in HC seeks feeding rooms for babies in Delhi

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the infant Avyaan Rastogi, through his mother Neha Rastogi, who wanted construction of feeding and child care rooms for lactating mothers.

Acting on a petition filed by a nine-month old infant through his mother demanding feeding and childcare rooms, the Delhi high court on Wednesday sought a response from the Centre, the AAP government and the municipal corporations on non-availability of such facilities for newborns and their mothers.

The Delhi high court heard a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the infant through his mother, who wanted construction of feeding and child care rooms for lactating mothers. (Representative Image/Shutterstock Photo)

Issuing notice to the authorities, including the Delhi Development Authority that owns land in the city, a bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice C Hari Shankar observed that facilities for breast-feeding newborns by lactating mothers are available everywhere in the country.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the infant Avyaan Rastogi, through his mother Neha Rastogi, who wanted construction of feeding and child care rooms for lactating mothers.

The plea, filed through advocate Animesh Rastogi, said a large number of new mothers are not comfortable feeding their babies in public.

“Breastfeeding in public is still a state of awkwardness among many young moms. They feel shy to feed in public,” the plea said adding babies can be unpredictable and sometimes can make it hard for a mother to feed them.

Invoking the right to privacy, the petition said the right to life is infringed and it is the duty of the state to ensure that such rights are protected and enforced.

The bench asked the authorities to file an action taken report within four weeks and fixed August 28 as the next date of hearing.