The Department of Probation and Childcare plans to set up ‘infant receiving counters’ to take-in unwanted newborns below three-months of age.
Its commissioner N.I. Liyanage said 60 instances of parents abandoning newborns had been reported in the past six years.
Also, 80 infants had been killed due to a number of reasons during the same period, he said.
No legal action will be taken against parents handing over the newborns to these counters anonymously, said Liyanage.
The Ministry of women’s and children’s affairs will table the relevant laws in parliament shortly, he added.
