The health centre was a joke. The only living beings on the premises were grazing in the courtyard. ‘The sacred cows are the doctors,’ laughed my research coordinator, Ismael. The entire building was dilapidated—floors broken, walls collapsing, paint peeling and weeds growing in the rooms and roof. In the village we were visiting, this was the only health centre within a kilometre radius. The doctors and health workers had obviously abandoned this workplace despite continuing to draw a hefty government salary. The only other health facility was more than 14 kilometres away. Bihar does have better health centres. But in the Muslim-majority Kishanganj district, most government services we saw were similarly in shambles