It's not strictly true that the rural poor have no access to healthcare. Doctors tend to be available, though you need to come up with cash to pay them and mayb

It's not strictly true that the rural poor have no access to healthcare. Doctors tend to be available, though you need to come up with cash to pay them and maybe take an auto the next town. Payment is often handled by calling in favors from the extended family. Further, medicine is quite cheap and easily available here. In a big expensive city like Pune, Bangalore or Bombay, you might spend 30-50 rupees on a generic "my skin is itchy" cream containing multiple medicines (anti-inflammatory, antifungal, anti-other-itchyness). You just go in and ask the pharmacist for it - no doctor needed. That's a significant financial hit, but for comparison India's National Rural Employment Guarantee (a super corrupt Basic Job for farm workers) pays about 100rs/day.