Confronting deep-rooted gender bias, Dr. Ganesh Rakh has delivered more than 2,000 girl children without charging a fee, transforming births once met with silence into celebrations of life and equality.
A Doctor Shaped by Struggle
Born to a coolie father and a housemaid mother in Pune, Ganesh Rakh grew up acutely aware of hardship. Though once drawn to wrestling, he followed his mother’s advice to pursue education and trained as a physician. In 2007, he opened his own small hospital, Medicare, with a mission to serve the community. What he witnessed there changed the trajectory of his life: the muted sorrow of families when a girl child was born, mothers left unsupported, and relatives lamenting rather than rejoicing.
Reversing Shame With Celebration
In 2012, Dr. Rakh began waiving all fees whenever a girl was delivered at his hospital. But the gesture did not end with money. Each birth was turned into an event: cakes were cut, sweets distributed, flowers offered, and the family encouraged to honor their daughter’s arrival. Over the years, he and his team have overseen the delivery of more than 2,000 baby girls, each welcomed as a symbol of hope rather than disappointment. Families who once entered the maternity ward with hesitation have left with smiles, their daughters embraced rather than hidden.
A Movement for Change
Dr. Rakh’s initiative has sparked a ripple far beyond Pune. He has appealed to doctors across India to deliver at least one girl child free every month, and thousands have pledged support. By 2025, his call had reached hundreds of thousands of medical professionals. In a country still grappling with a skewed sex ratio and systemic neglect of daughters, his movement is both a symbolic protest and a practical intervention.
For Dr. Rakh, it is about rewriting the script of a girl’s first day in the world. “Every daughter deserves to be celebrated,” he says. And in the hospital rooms of Pune, that celebration begins with sweets, smiles, and a promise of equality.
