The district part of Punjab's notorious 'kudi maar' (girl killer) belt has in recent times shown a sex ratio that is far better than most others in a state known to brutally kill its unborn women, and the credit for this amazing turnaround goes entirely to the unassuming DC.
Kumar is really a rabid anti-female foeticide cowboy. And if hundreds of little girls have defeated certain death to grow up and play in countless courtyards of Nawanshahr, they owe their lives to this one man.
Deciding to act swiftly, Kumar put together a system of checks in his district, a mechanism that would have data on all pregnant women, all unnatural deaths of newborn girls, all requests for scanning and abortions
"We have data on all women carrying pregnancies between three months and five months because that is the time-band in which the unborn is vulnerable to abortion," he explained. "Every few days someone calls up the expectant mother to ask about her well-being. She knows she's being watched."
At the Nawanshahr Suvidha centre, there is a touch-screen which, among other facilities, has details on each of the district's pregnant women.
It has the woman's name, her husband's name, contact numbers, the name of the doctor whom the family has been visiting and weekly-updated position on her pregnancy. There's no way any would-be mother can escape the cowboy's eagle eyes.
But it's not just fear Kumar uses as a tool, it's also innovation. He encourages NGOs to hold shok-sabhas (condolence meetings) in front of the houses of anyone found indulging in female foeticide.
In an espionage network of sorts, he has turned hundreds of para-medics, including government nurses, into spies and informers. They alert him whenever anyone comes for an abortion and he pounces on them with a band of dedicated followers.
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