This Doctor Delivers Girl Babies For Free To Prevent Foeticide And Is Inspiring Doctors All Over

In the face of a very big problem, when everyone gives up, it just takes a good deed by just one person to make a difference. That deed may not eliminate the problem altogether, but it inspires other people to do the same. And that is the way to deal with problems that are as big as female foeticide.

Dr. Ganesh Rakh, who owns a small hospital in Pune, delivers female babies for free. And not only this, he even provides free vaccinations to all girls up to 5 years of age.

This is a good way of fighting a problem deeply ingrained in our society. As they say – “If you want to change the system, get into the system and then change it.”

Dr. Ganesh Rakh has delivered 750 babies free of cost until now. And to know the significance of this action, a C-section costs almost Rs. 20,000. With the current mindset, parents and families are disheartened at spending the amount on the birth of a girl.

 

Dr. Ganesh Rakh explains how, for regular doctors, giving the news of death is the worst thing about the occupation. And for him, it has always been about giving the news that a girl is born.

“They would celebrate and distribute sweets if a male child was born, but if a girl was born, the relatives would leave the hospital, the mother would cry, and the families would ask for a discount. They would be so disappointed.”

He also talks about how husbands would slap their wives after they discovered that the baby born is a girl. It was these incidents that pushed him to forfeit the fees of delivering the babies.

 

Taking his example, other doctors also followed the lead and started waiving off delivery fees if the baby born is a girl. Some doctors even go a step further and give free counselling and motivational talks to the parents about the girl child.

From Shirur to Ahmednagar, doctors are following Dr. Rakh’s example. The movement caught like a wildfire when 17,000 medicine students took an oath to deliver girl babies for free.

Dr. Rakh makes it a point to celebrate the birth of a girl child. After every delivery, he and his staff celebrate by cutting cakes and giving gifts to the mother of the child.

Waiving fees is not really a profitable venture for a doctor who is running a small hospital. But he still went ahead and did it. And his family wholeheartedly supported the cause. His movement is finally getting traction, with ministers and stars like Amitabh Bachchan appreciating his work.

And close to home, his mother succinctly describes him in one sentence –

“He’s a good man.”

Sources – Indian Express, BBC, Sydney Morning Herald