This self-help group is revolutionising healthcare, treatment in villages

The folks at Uplift Mutuals realised that sudden medical events often pushed families into poverty

In a pretty red bandhej sari, Pyari Devi of Dungarpur looks like any other woman one might encounter in a Rajasthani village. But this spunky, illiterate woman is a key player in a self help group (SHG) which has transformed health insurance in this tribal area. Every member of the SHG contributes a premium and from this corpus, claims of up to Rs 15,000 are settled. Run by India’s first mutual health insurance non-profit, Uplift Mutuals, Pyari Devi’s group provides financial support, transportation to hospital and, most crucially, information to the claimant about where she or he could get the