In East UP, a Village So Backward That Access to Healthcare Is ‘Bhagwan Bharose'
- 2 years ago
Near the India-Nepal border, there lies a remote village in east UP's Balrampur by the name of Son Garha. It is home to around a hundred families from the Tharu Scheduled Tribe.
In 2018, Balrampur featured in NITI Aayog's list of the 10 most backward districts of India. And Son Garha is one of Balrampur's most backward villages. Among its biggest challenges is the difficulty to access even basic healthcare. There is no doctor in Son Garha, or anywhere close to it. The village's solitary health clinic lies defunct and in shambles. Locals say the nearest hospital is 10 to 15 kilometres away, and with there being no pucca road from the village to these hospitals, the villagers have to cross as many as three streams, and struggle through a difficult terrain to get the sick any form of medical treatment.
Their constant refrain to us, as we enquired about their access to healthcare, is that the fate of the sick in Son Garha is just "Bhagwan bharose", or left at the mercy of God.
In 2018, Balrampur featured in NITI Aayog's list of the 10 most backward districts of India. And Son Garha is one of Balrampur's most backward villages. Among its biggest challenges is the difficulty to access even basic healthcare. There is no doctor in Son Garha, or anywhere close to it. The village's solitary health clinic lies defunct and in shambles. Locals say the nearest hospital is 10 to 15 kilometres away, and with there being no pucca road from the village to these hospitals, the villagers have to cross as many as three streams, and struggle through a difficult terrain to get the sick any form of medical treatment.
Their constant refrain to us, as we enquired about their access to healthcare, is that the fate of the sick in Son Garha is just "Bhagwan bharose", or left at the mercy of God.