Explaining the rationale behind the scheme, Harpal Singh, Chairman of the Ranbaxy Group and Impact Group of Companies, said: “Mothers and trees are givers. They provide us so many things without expecting anything in return.”

He said that in the first year they would would spend Rs 25 lakh on the programme. They have proposed to the SGPC to extend it to other gurdwaras as well. “This scheme is also being launched by us at several other religious places, including Ajmer Sharif.”

SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar, who described female foeticide “a major cause of concern”, said other gurdwaras could be roped in. “Earlier too a hukumnama was issued by the Akal Takht which condemned this hideous and reprehensible practice,” he pointed out.