Seven infants have been received at the ‘Ammathottil’ electronic cradle set up at the Government General Hospital, Kozhikode, the second such facility functional in north Kerala, in the past nine months.

According to an official at the district office of the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, which manages the facility, the latest child was found in the cradle on May 5. The facility was officially launched here on August 17, 2025.

The official told The Hindu on Wednesday (May 7, 2026) that the district secretary of the council as well as the district manager of Sisu Vikas Bhavan get a message on their mobile app as soon as a new child is found in the cradle. They will then inform the nursing superintendent at the hospital, who is in charge of the facility. The nursing officer will subsequently take the child to the labour ward and inspect its health indicators such as height, body weight, and the approximate age. The State general secretary of the council will subsequently name the child. The latest child was named ‘Agney’.

All these details will then be communicated to the Sisu Vikas Bhavan manager. The Child Welfare Committee later takes a decision on shifting the child to the adoption facility. In Kozhikode, the special adoption agency is St. Vincent Home.

Thereafter, the district child protection officer issues a press release about the child. If no one comes forward to claim the child in the next 60 days, it will be left free for adoption proceedings, which are carried by the government agencies concerned. Another ‘Ammathottil’ in north Kerala is functional in Malappuram district.