Jarata Nagaraju, a youngster from Dungada village in Daraparti panchayat in Vizianagaram district, has been suffering from jaundice for several days. Earlier this week, he had to be taken to the Vizianagaram government hospital.

As things would be in backward tribal areas in Andhra Pradesh, no ambulance could reach Nagaraju's village. Left with no option, villagers had to arrange a makeshift stretcher by themselves and carry Nagaraju to the road where the ambulance could reach. And this needed them to carry him for 12 km!

The incident has come as a shocker. "Even after 70 years of Independence, physical connectivity is poor in many backward areas even in a relatively rich State like AP. Imagine the plight of marginalized communities living in backward Staes such as Bihar," says a Facebook user.