When Dr Jogesh Kumar set foot in the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Gida in Barmer district of Rajasthan, he found himself in calf-deep water in the reception area. The facility was dank and dilapidated and the water remained stagnant for all of five days.
It is not uncommon to have a few heavy showers towards the end of the monsoon in this desert region where Gida is located. There have even been floods in Barmer. The PHC’s problems, however, had more to do with long administrative neglect than the rain. No one had tried to manage it properly.