By Nazmin Saikia
India’s health system has produced many success stories — expanded immunisation, growing tertiary hospitals, and improved life expectancy — but persistent gaps in access, responsiveness and dignity continue to cost lives. Recent reported incidents across the country illustrate a pattern in which distance, poverty, caste and administrative failure combine to deny timely care to the most vulnerable. This article presents a fact-based account of several documented cases and surveys, sets them in the broader context of systemic weaknesses, and cites contemporaneous reporting for each claim.
A stillborn carried home in a carry-bag: an emergency system that failed
In June 2025, a widely reported case underlined the cost of a failed emergency response. A tribal man from Palghar district, Maharashtra, said his wife went into labour and that emergency services did not provide an ambulance. After repeated calls to the 108 service, the couple reached the civil hospital only to be turned back, the family reported; the stillborn child was then carried home on a state transport bus in a carry-bag after an 80–90 km journey. The sequence of events was confirmed to reporters by local health staff and covered by national outlets. The episode generated widespread public attention and local outrage about ambulance availability for remote tribal communities. (www.ndtv.com)
Maternal deaths at primary health centres: staff absence and infrastructure gaps
Rural primary health centres are the first line of care for obstetric emergencies; when they lack qualified personnel, outcomes can be fatal. In the Korba district (Chhattisgarh), relatives of a tribal woman from a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) alleged that both mother and newborn died after delivery at a PHC where the in-charge doctor was absent and a nurse alone attended the birth. The family filed a complaint, and authorities launched an inquiry; the incident was documented in press reports that note the complaint’s specifics and ongoing investigation. Similar reports from other districts have identified ambulance delays, non-availability of trained staff, and gaps in referral systems as recurring problems in rural maternal care. (The Times of India)
Denial of treatment over cost: private facilities and upfront cash demands
A separate set of reports shows how cost barriers in private hospitals can produce fatal delays even in urban areas. In April 2025, a pregnant woman in Pune reportedly required urgent intervention but, according to media accounts, the treating hospital demanded a substantial advance before proceeding. The family said they could not immediately meet the requested payment and that delayed treatment contributed to the woman’s death; the hospital later faced an FIR and an investigation by police and medical authorities. These episodes highlight the structural risk posed when emergency care is tied to upfront payment capacity rather than clinical need. (India Today)
Older patients dying while seeking beds and oxygen: system congestion and triage failures
In a case reported from Lucknow in August 2025, family members said a 70-year-old man died after hours of being shifted between hospitals and waiting for an oxygen-equipped bed; they alleged repeated delays in response and inability to obtain timely admission. Hospital authorities acknowledged extreme pressure on emergency services and high occupancy levels. Such instances are part of a pattern where shortages of critical care resources, uneven distribution of oxygen or ventilators, and overwhelmed referral pathways contribute to preventable deaths. (India Today)
Surveys and patterns: discrimination and denial at the intersection of caste, poverty and geography
Beyond individual tragedies, surveys and research indicate broader trends. A countrywide Oxfam India survey and related reporting have found that a significant proportion of respondents report having faced discrimination in healthcare on grounds of caste, religion or socio-economic status. The survey data — and follow-up reporting — show that Dalit and Adivasi respondents report higher rates of discriminatory experience in medical settings than average respondents. Additionally, local civil society studies and media investigations document frequent problems: denial or delay of ambulances, absence of staff at PHCs, inability to pay advance fees at private hospitals, and obstructed release of dead bodies pending payments or paperwork. These documented patterns underscore how social marginality and poverty intersect with infrastructural deficits to produce exclusion from care. (Business Standard)
Missing bodies and indignities after death: procedural and financial barriers
Several reports highlight indignities after death as an aspect of systemic failure. Families have reported difficulty securing the timely release of bodies from hospitals because of administrative holdbacks, payment disputes or delays in medico-legal procedures. Media outlets have documented cases in which families were forced to wait, make repeated requests, or seek police intervention to obtain mortal remains for last rites. These processes inflict additional trauma on bereaved families and raise legal and ethical questions about the treatment of patients and post-mortem procedures in both public and private facilities. (See related reporting cited above for specific instances.) (Business Standard)
Causal factors documented in the reporting
Contemporary reporting and official statements point to several recurring causes behind these incidents:
Ambulance and referral system gaps. In many districts, emergency medical services are understaffed or misallocated; calls to emergency numbers do not always translate into timely ambulance dispatches for remote or tribal hamlets. The Palghar case is a vivid illustration reported in the national media. (www.ndtv.com)
Staffing shortfalls at the primary care level. Reports from multiple states document absent doctors at PHCs or understaffed facilities, leaving mid-level staff to handle complex deliveries without backup. The Korba case reported such an absence and consequent investigation. (The Times of India)
Upfront payment demands in private hospitals. High advance requirements, even for emergency obstetric care, have led to delays while families attempt to arrange funds; criminal negligence FIRs and hospital inquiries often follow such deaths. The Pune case led to police filing and media coverage. (India Today)
Resource shortages and surge management. Tertiary centres operating beyond capacity face triage dilemmas; families report difficulty obtaining oxygen beds or ventilators during high demand, as documented in Lucknow coverage. (India Today)
Social discrimination and marginalisation. Survey evidence shows caste and religion can operate as determinants of healthcare treatment quality and access, increasing vulnerability among Dalit and Adivasi communities. (Business Standard)
Regulatory and legal responses reported
Where these events have been reported, they have prompted a mix of responses: FIRs against medical personnel in a few cases; inquiries by health departments; media scrutiny; and public protests. In some instances, hospitals defended their actions by citing resource constraints or disputing families’ accounts. Courts and state health regulators are often asked to review procedural lapses; however, the pace of formal inquiries and litigation means remedies can be slow relative to the urgency of the underlying health deficits. Journalistic investigations and civil society monitoring have called for faster administrative action and transparent reporting of audit findings. (India Today)
Geographic reach: rural, tribal and peri-urban vulnerabilities
The cases and surveys together show the problem is not confined to one region. Tribal hamlets on rural peripheries (Palghar, Korba), mid-sized urban centres (Pune), and tertiary facilities in large cities (Lucknow) all feature in reporting. Common across these geographies is uneven access to emergency transport, diagnostic and critical care capacity, and financial protection mechanisms — meaning that both location and socio-economic status shape outcomes. Survey data documenting caste-based discrimination further underlines the cross-cutting nature of the problem. (www.ndtv.com)
Documented remedies and policy actions in news reporting
Press reporting and public statements identify a series of remedial measures being pursued or recommended:
Strengthening ambulance services, with clearer dispatch protocols and monitoring of 108/102 response times in remote districts.
Filling medical staff vacancies at PHCs and ensuring roster systems prevent single-point absences during peak demand.
Enforcing emergency treatment norms that prevent upfront denial for inability to pay, and ensuring hospitals observe the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) and related consumer protection rules.
Fast-track inquiries and transparency in investigations into deaths alleged to result from negligence, including timely public disclosure of the findings.
Tackling discrimination through training and accountability measures anchored in health department directives and patient-rights charters. (www.ndtv.com)
Conclusion — documented facts and continuing inquiry
Recent reporting across multiple reputable outlets documents a pattern in which emergency response failures, staffing shortfalls, upfront payment demands and social marginalisation intersect to produce preventable deaths and indignities for India’s poorest and most marginalised citizens. Each named case — the Palghar tribal man who carried his stillborn child in a bag on a long bus journey after being denied an ambulance, the Korba PHC maternal death amid staff absence, the Pune woman denied care pending payment, and the Lucknow patient who died awaiting a critical bed — is recorded in contemporaneous press accounts and has prompted official inquiries or criminal complaints. Survey evidence further indicates that discrimination in access to care is a recurring problem for Dalit, Adivasi and minority communities. (www.ndtv.com)
For policymakers, clinicians and health administrators, the documented imperative is clear in the reporting: strengthen emergency and referral systems, prioritise staffing and resource allocation in underserved areas, enforce patient rights in private facilities, and address the social determinants of exclusion so that timely, dignified care is not a matter of geography, caste or pocketability but a guaranteed service for all.
Selected source citations (by reporting instance):
NDTV coverage of Palghar ambulance denial and carry-bag journey. (www.ndtv.com)
Hindustan Times is reporting on the same Palghar incident. (Hindustan Times)
Times of India report on tribal woman and newborn dying at PHC in Korba district. (The Times of India)
India Today reports on Pune pregnant woman denied treatment and subsequently FIR. (India Today)
India Today and Medical Dialogues are reporting on a Lucknow patient dying while waiting for treatment. (India Today)
Oxfam India survey reporting and Business Standard analysis on discrimination in healthcare access. (Business Standard)
