Pune hospital celebrates birth of every girl child

"Initially, nobody supported me. Later, my senior gynaecologist, Dr. Iqbal Shaikh, waived off charges for any female child's delivery. Then followed my two paediatric surgeons, Anil Chavan and Santosh Shind," Rakh said.

Soon, the entire hospital staff joined in and did not complain if their salaries were delayed occasionally as it was for a noble cause, Rakh explained.

In another major initiative by Aug. 15, Rakh will open a 15-bed neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) - also free for all female infants born premature or with serious problems.

The small candle lit by Rakh started emitting a bright flame and his reputation spread far and wide - in Ahmednagar, Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, Aurangabad and other parts of the state.

Since the past one year, Rakh has become a frequent traveller to remote places in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana for advising hospitals how to take up the cause.

"During the (2014) Lok Sabha elections, in a small town in Haryana, I was shocked to see the local men ready to vote for any party which could get them married! Most were in their late 30s and 40s and still bachelors; the effects of not protecting the female child in the past were now evident," Rakh said.

He said that the practice of female foeticide appears more rampant among the middle-class, upper-class and affluent sections than the poor classes.

"In cities, millionaires also desire a male child. If it is a female, the families are disappointed and abhor her; even the mother ignores her newborn child," he lamented.

For those coming for a "second chance" they conduct illegal sex-determination tests before going ahead with the pregnancy and others who beget a male child first simply avoid a second pregnancy - "just in case it is a female". The ill-effects of this will be visible after a few years, Rakh cautioned.

His services to society notwithstanding, the state and central health authorities have maintained a pregnant silence on his endeavours so far, especially on his pleas to enforce a blanket ban on all kinds of sex determination tests.

"Nowadays, sex tests are carried out through simple blood tests, conducted in the privacy of people's homes after six weeks pregnancy, by the local pathology lab. The authorities are sleeping over this. The era of sonography tests is passe. The central and state health ministries must tackle this seriously," Rakh urged.

However, Rakh, supported to the hilt by his father and helped by his wife Trupti and their sole daughter Tanisha, vow to continue the struggle - till society equally treats the birth of a male or female child.