Clutching a radiological scan image to his chest, 28-year-old Narang wanders into the Red Rose Restaurant, a landmark of Hyderabad’s Punjagutta area. He takes a look at the ₹60 vegetarian meal before eventually stepping out. The scan, from the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in his home State, Assam, is that of his 35-year-old sister-in-law Shilpa, who has been diagnosed with gallstones.
Shilpa was referred by her family doctor to the GMCH, which, in turn, referred her to the ESIC Medical College and Hospital in Hyderabad. Her husband, a government servant, was unable to take leave from work, thanks to the flash floods in that State. So he sent his brother Narang, a private company employee, to Hyderabad to make enquiries as well as arrangements for the treatment.
After embarking on a 47-hour 2,400-km train journey, Narang found that ESIC had now directed them to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Punjagutta, nearly 6 km away.
