Pangoora, a shelter and care scheme for abandoned babies, has provided care to as many as 105 children since its inception in 2008. The shelter, run from Red Cross Bhawan in Amritsar, has a cradle placed along its front wall where anyone wishing to leave an infant can do so safely and anonymously.The cradle scheme will soon be implemented by the Odisha state branch of the Indian Red Cross Society. A meeting between the Punjab and Odisha state branches was held on Monday at Red Cross Bhawan, Amritsar, to discuss various humanitarian initiatives, with special emphasis on the cradle scheme that has been successfully operating in Amritsar since 2008.The meeting was attended by Ganesh Chandra Patra, IAS, State Secretary, Odisha Red Cross; Ashok Kumar Mohanty, Joint Secretary; Dr Ramesh Chandra Behra, Deputy Secretary (Higher Education); Ranjan Kumar; and other members of the Odisha delegation. They met Dalwinderjit Singh, IAS, Deputy Commissioner and president of Red Cross Amritsar; Shivdular Singh, IAS, State Secretary, Punjab Red Cross; and Samson Masih, Secretary, Red Cross Amritsar.Pragati Sethi, PCS, Assistant Commissioner (General)-cum-Honorary Secretary, Red Cross Amritsar, presented a detailed report on the district branch’s activities and welfare initiatives. She also highlighted the achievements of the cradle scheme, which has been operating at the Red Cross Bhawan since 2008. The initiative has so far saved the lives of 197 abandoned and unwanted newborns, making it one of the organisation’s most significant humanitarian programmes.Impressed by the success of the initiative, Ganesh Chandra Patra announced that the Odisha Red Cross would launch a similar cradle scheme in Bhubaneswar for the protection and care of abandoned and unwanted infants. He described the Amritsar model as an inspiring example of humanitarian service and said similar initiatives should be replicated in other states.Pangoora was launched in 2008 by the then Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, Kahan Singh Pannu, to help curb female foeticide by providing a safe alternative for those unwilling or unable to care for newborns. After undergoing medical examination, healthy babies admitted to the shelter are transferred to recognised specialised adoption agencies, including the Swami Ganga Nand Bhuriwale Foundation, under the Legal Adoption and Placement Scheme (LAPA) to help them find permanent homes.A vast majority of the babies rescued through Pangoora have been girls, with the initiative having saved well over 180 girl children since its inception.