No one should die because they live too far from a doctor.

In a TEDx talk I watched recently, physician-entrepreneur Raj Panjabi attempted to drive this message home, highlighting how the lack of medical support is posing a problem for villages across the globe. But there is hope. Closer to home, changemakers on the ground are sparking revolutions in India’s hinterland — which is home to around 65 percent of the country’s population. Through simple formulae, they are ensuring health equity for all.

1. Revamped kurma ghars

The concept, albeit archaic, still dominates the villages of India, particularly Maharashtra. Menstruating women are sentenced to a state of exile in the kurma ghar (period hut), where they must remain until they are deemed ‘pure’. The women are considered untouchable during this time. Once dilapidated, these structures had thatched roofs that offered little protection from the rain, and their lack of doors left women vulnerable to scorpions, snakes, and dogs. However, many kurma ghars have now undergone a revamp.

A Mumbai-based charity, Kherwadi Social Welfare Association, is ensuring that women retain their dignity through clean spaces equipped with beds, indoor toilets, running water, and solar panels for electricity.

2. Boat clinics

No longer are the residents of the Sundarbans paralysed with fear when a medical emergency strikes. They know their plea for help will be answered by the boat clinics. These clinics are the brainchild of Mohammed Abdul Wohab, a lawyer who claims that the ‘clinics’ treat a total of 34,578 patients each month.

Right from pregnancy consultations and help with oral contraceptives to stitching wounds and treating snakebites, the clinics are equipped to deal with emergencies of all sorts. Each boat clinic includes two medical beds, a mobile X-ray, a small pathological unit, a medical storage room, and an oxygen cylinder.

3. Palanquins for pregnant women

As the delivery date approached, expectant couples in Uttarakhand would start to worry. They dreaded the

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