At a time when India is poised to become the world leader in spirituality, culture and humanity again, the ramshackle nature of the public health services appears to be leading the country into another dark age.

While the country is still unable to come to terms with the large number of deaths of children from acute encephalitis in Bihar, following the complete failure of health system in the state, the public health machinery in Uttar Pradesh is proving to be as heartless and uncaring for the plight of the patients who come to the government health centers in hopes of affordable treatment.

One such case of heartlessness on the part of the local doctors and health staff came into light today, when a pregnant woman gave birth to a boy on the road, after being turned away from the Runkata Primary Health Center (PHC) by the duty nurse, when her husband could not pay the bribe demanded by the nurse.

Taking action in the case after it was brought to the notice of the Agra administration, Chief Medical Officer Agra Dr. Mukesh Vatsa said that the services of the duty nurse Sarita Singh have been terminated, while Dr. Supriya Jain and Pharmacist Sonu Goyal, posted on the PHC have been removed from the center and attached to the district office.

A report of the entire incident has been sent to the state government with recommendations for action against the concerned doctor and pharmacist.

Talking to India Today, Shyam Singh, the husband of Naina Devi, resident of Lakhanpur village in Runkata area of Agra said that he had brought his wife to the PHC at 7 am after she began to have labour pains. The nurse Sarita Singh demanded bribe to admit his wife in the health center.

When he expressed inability to pay the bribe as he had no money, he was pushed out of the PHC along with his wife. He requested the nurse to call the ambulance so that he can take his wife to the district hospital but she told him to call 102 and wait for the ambulance.

Tired of haggling with the nurse, Shyam Singh had barely walked 20 meters from the PHC with his wife when she collapsed from extreme pain and gave birth to a boy with the help of some local women on the road.

Social activist Vijay Upadhyay expressed anguish at the state of the health services in Uttar Pradesh and said that the staff at the PHCs should be made sensitive and efforts should be made to ensure that doctors remain present at their duty stations instead to engaging in private practice after skipping duty at the PHC.

Hindustani Biradari Vice-Chairman Vishal Sharma said that the time of delivery is a matter of life and death for a woman and any carelessness on the part of the health staff could prove deadly for the woman or the child or both.

The culprits, in this case, should be given the strictest of punishment as they had played with the life of a woman and her child for the sake of their petty interests.