Dr Ganesh rakh who pays to have a baby girl in this hospital

Dr Ganesh Rakh, running Medicare Hospital Foundation Trust in the Hadapsar suburb of Pune in India, does not charge any fees if the infant delivered is a girl. Till date in over 144 deliveries, both normal and caesarian, maternity charges were not only waived off but the entire hospital celebrates the birth of the girl child by distributing sweets in the hospital.

The birth of a girl child is celebrated in this hospital by not only distributing sweets but also by treating the mother and the child for free. The Medicare Multispeciality Hospital in Hadapsar completed one year of this special service. 

The initiative was launched on the occasion of Savitribai Phule birth anniversary on January 3, 2012. Till date, the hospital has given free treatment to 135 women and their newborn girls. Dr Ganesh Rakh, MD, runs the 24- bed multispeciality hospital located behind the Amanora Park township. “I was born and brought up in a poor family. 

My father was a labourer at Market Yard and did not have money for my education,” he said. “I did well in studies and supported it through government scholarships. Thus, I completed my postgraduation in medicine. I wanted to give back in some ways to society,” Rakh said. But he did not know how to do it. “Last year, there was news about female foeticides across India, especially in Maharashtra. I decided to do something about it,” he said. 

Usually, Rakh said, family members cry in the hospital after hearing the news of the birth of a baby girl. Then they start arguing among themselves over the footing of the hospitalisation and medicines bills. “It was very painful. I decided to give it a full stop and decided to not charge any fees for the girl child’s birth in my hospital,” he said. 

For first three months, Rakh said, he bore the cost of anaesthesia and fees of the doctors. “Slowly, other doctors also joined me and they too decided not to charge for the girl child's deliveries in the hospital. Dr Iqbal Shaikh and Dr Anil Chavan are not charging anything for the past nine months,” he said. 

When asked how the finances of the hospitals have been affected following this decision, Dr Rakh said it is a multi-speciality hospital. They do not fill the pinch of these free treatments. “About 22 deliveries take place in the hospital every month and half of them involve the girl child. 

I do not mind for not charging them. It gives me immense satisfaction. At the same time, it is shocking that doctors are equally responsible, along with the family members, for female foeticides. It cannot be done without the help of doctors,” he said.