Medical infrastructure in rural India: The stories behind the statistics

Seema's story highlights how badly rural India struggles when health emergencies strike

The other day, Seema, a recent migrant from Uttar Pradesh, told me of the recent troubles her family has been facing. It got me thinking how the rural–urban divide in medical infrastructure is, frustratingly, still a common reason why people are migrating to bigger cities. Anyway, when I met the petite young widow, all she could do was yawn hugely. “I can’t remember when I slept last,” she said. “All it took was a split second to turn our lives upside down…”

Here’s what happened. Last month, a bus carrying eight members of Seema’s family, including her mother and 18-year old