Pune doctor delivers baby girls free of charge at his hospital

Pune: A doctor from Pune has embarked on a mission to save the girl child by waiving the fees if a baby girl is born in his hospital, but also makes sure the little one gets a rousing welcome. As part of his ‘Beti Bachao Janandolan’ initiative, Dr Ganesh Rakh, who runs a maternity-cum-multispeciality hospital in Hadapsar area of Maharashtra, has been trying to create awareness against female foeticide and infanticide. He claims to have delivered more than 2,400 girl children in the last 11 years without charging fees from their parents and relatives. According to Dr Rakh, the small initiative that he started in 2012 at his Medicare Hospital has now spread across various states and in some African countries.

“Before 2012, in the initial years of the hospital, we came across different experiences here where in some cases if a girl was born, the family members would shy away from coming to see her. That picture struck me and gave me a fillip to do something to save the girl child and create awareness about gender equality,” said the doctor, while holding a newborn girl in his arms. Dr Rakh said as per a government survey, there were more than six crore female foeticide cases in the last 10 years. This is a kind of “genocide”, he claimed. The reason for female foeticide is people’s preference for a son. This is not limited to one region, state, or a country, but it is a global societal issue, he said. “As per our survey, of late there has been a remarkable drop in cases of female infanticide and this is a positive takeaway,” added Dr Rakh. Dr Shivdeep Undre, working at the same hospital, said as part of the mission, they are reaching out to various states in the country and conducting gender sensitization programmes.—PTI