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In this ground report from Jiradei village in Siwan district, Bihar, journalist Rohit Jha exposes the grim state of rural healthcare in the land of Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President. The village’s Primary Health Centre (PHC) stands as a symbol of everything wrong with Bihar’s public health system locked doors, missing doctors, and neglected infrastructure, all hidden behind glossy posters of Ayushman Bharat and the Chief Minister’s Digital Health Scheme.
When the team visited the PHC at 10:30 AM, not a single doctor was present despite an official duty chart mandating attendance from 8 AM to 2 PM. The OPD, medicine counter, and even the toilets were locked with ropes. Villagers revealed that doctors often come late or leave early, forcing patients to either travel 5 kilometers to another hospital or rely on expensive private clinics for basic treatment.
The centre itself was in a dilapidated condition dirty toilets, cobwebs on walls, and unused rooms filled with garbage. Ironically, this decay exists under giant banners showcasing government schemes and smiling faces of political leaders promising “healthcare for all.”