The mindset has been worked on by first year students of the Faculty of Social Work, M S University, who have been working in these villages for two years, explaining to childless couples the procedure for adoption.

During their visits to villages, the students make presentations that make villagers aware of the legalities of adoption, and of how an adopted child can bring warmth to the lives of childless couples.

The students convey the concepts in the form of small skits and charts. At the end of the programmes, they ask villagers questions to gauge whether they have understood.

The students haven't restricted themselves to villages, though. They visit voluntary organisations that in turn could talk about adoption to city dwellers.

The students and teachers claimthe change is showing. Take the case of Savitaben, who had, a few years ago, shut the door in the faces of student volunteers campaigning for adoption. But the relentless campaigning seems to be influencing her. She has started discussing the idea with them.

``What's the harm in getting a clear idea of what adoption involves?'' she now asks. ``After all, there is no harm in giving a new life and a new name to a forsaken child.''

Anil Navle, dean of the faculty, says, ``Earlier, people of these villages did not want to talk about adoption, nor could they think of discussing the concept.''

He says that earlier, they would just say, ``Koi nu chhokru keviritey dattak levay? (How can we adopt someone else's child?) Now, our students say that the villagers are more receptive and open to the idea.''

Speaking about her experience with the students, Kankuben, a villager, says, ``We felt inhibited to adopt, for at the back of our mind, we would always be wondering as to whose child we were giving ourname to, under what conditions the child had been born. But now, we have realised that after giving a child our name, we should not worry about his or her past; instead, we should work to secure the child's future.''

However, Navle says there is still little or no acceptance for adopting a girl child in the villages -- not the cae in urban areas. ``However, few in the urban areas want to discuss it in front of their children.''

He says he plans an association of parents who have adopted children, ``so that the children grow up with the knowledge that they are adopted.''