Medical debts bankrupt Indians already ravaged by coronavirus

People are being forced to choose between food and healthcare

In the shadows of the Taj Mahal, shoemaker Shyambabu Nigam worked for years to save enough money to buy his wife Anju a small house with a view of the iconic 17th century mausoleum. Yet in just a matter of months, they were forced to give it up.

After Anju fell seriously ill with Covid-19 last year, the couple turned to a mix of subsidised government hospitals and more expensive private clinics to treat the illness and pay for two open-heart surgeries that followed. The total costs amounted to more than Rs 6 lakh — roughly six times Nigam’s annual