Remembering Pune's Dr Rajnikant

The death of Magsaysay awardee and Padma Bhushan, Dr Rajnikant Arole, in Pune on Wednesday marks the end of an era in the filed of rural and public health. A legend in his own time, Arole’s comprehensive rural health project (CRHP) has been adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a model for community-based public health initiative.

Hailing from an under-privileged family in Rahuri, in Ahmednagar district, Arole’s decision to learn medicine was due to the tragic death of his classmate due to a minor
infection.

“My father’s classmate was suffering from a very minor infection, because of which he died for want of proper medical attention, just because he was from the backward classes,” the legendary doctor’s son, Ravi Arole, told DNA.
It was at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, that Arole met his future wife, Mabelle. “Although my mother was from an affluent family, she shared the same desire to bring about a sea change in the field of rural health care. Such was their dedication that in their wedding rings, it was engraved, “We for each other and for the poor”, he said.
After finishing their higher
education from the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in the US, Arole chose to start his unique project in Jamkhed in 1970. In those days Jamkhed was one of the poorest of talukas in the state. With
infant mortality rate as high as 80 per 1,000 births it was a tough
challenge for the doctor couple to start their scheme of community-based rural health.
Operating from a rented cowshed, Arole worked with the illiterate villagers and educated them in changing their lifestyles for the better. “There was some opposition at first, but what won the day for my father was his simple living and popularity with the masses,” Ravi said.
During the formative years of his stay in Jamkhed, Arole perfected the model of community-based public health services, which is now known as the Jamkhed Model. This three-tier model emphasises on the participation of the individual family in community-oriented health initiatives.
Health workers and hospitals formed the next two tiers of the model. “Health and development for my father were two sides of the same coin and the Jamkhed Model was based on the overall development of the community,” Ravi said.
Within three years of implementation, the Jamkhed Model was a roaring success, which led to its adoption by the WHO for implementation in many Third World countries. The success of the model soon attracted enough attention, which came in the form of awards and funds, which allowed the model to be implemented in many more villages in the state.
The prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award was presented to the couple in 1979 “for creating a self-sustaining rural health and economic betterment movement in one of the poorer regions of West-Central India”.
Arole’s simplicity and
approachability was something that his co-workers and students
admire him for.
Dr Alef Kayfin, international coordinator of CRHP, who has been associated with Arole since 2005 said, “I started with a 10-month fellowship programme with CRHP and was introduced to the work done by him.” “What I remember most about Arole is his sense of humour. While interacting with village women, he often used humour to drive home his point. Also, every evening he used to interact with students and colleagues and his humour was at its best. Those evenings are the ones which I will cherish for the rest of my life,” he said.