By Desree B. Warjri
SHILLONG, May 10: Healthcare in rural Meghalaya faces deep-rooted challenges that affect thousands of people daily with villages scattered across hilly terrain and limited access to hospitals or diagnostic services. Under the Rural Health Mission, a three tier system is followed in India. The Sub-Centres, Primary Health Centres and the Community Health centers form these three tiers. Meghalaya has around 30 Community Health Centres (CHCs) catering to the medical needs of 18,64,711 rural population in Meghalaya.
The Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs), which are the intended first line of contact, are often under-equipped, under-staffed, or barely functional. Reaching a hospital often means hours of travel on poor roads, and for many, especially for the elderly and low-income families where timely medical attention is out of reach. These structural issues have created a critical gap in rural healthcare delivery, calling for innovative and localised solutions like Runo Health.
Founded in March 2020 by Dr Elvee Marbaniang, a doctor trained at CMC Vellore, and Siddharth Das, a corporate professional-turned-entrepreneur, Runo Health emerged in response to the acute healthcare crisis during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have partnered up with several hospitals, pharmacies, individual doctors and nurse. It not only delivers convenience by providing home-based healthcare, but it also delivers hope and access to those who have been neglected. They provide free consultations and discounted medicines to families living below the Poverty Line (BPL), ensuring that financial hardship is not a barrier to health. They have also penetrated into rural Meghalaya, setting up mobile testing units and offline pick-up points in remote areas. This approach allows villagers to travel only halfway to get tested instead of making long and costly journeys to city centres.
Results are delivered back to the same pick-up points, ensuring continuity of care without added burden. What began as a grassroots solution to these emergency needs quickly evolved into a critical lifeline for thousands.
Dr Elvee, who previously worked at a mission hospital in Jowai, said the idea was seeded during his early medical practice when friends and relatives would often reach out to him to arrange healthcare at home. “Whenever you’re a doctor, everyone expects you to know everything, from neurology to psychiatry,” he laughs. “But more importantly, I realised that home-based care was an unmet need, especially in semi-urban and urban areas where families have no one to care for the sick during the day.”
The duo, guided by their personal experiences and a shared vision, took the plunge into entrepreneurship. “My co-founder Siddharth once said to me, ‘You’ve studied outside, seen the world, so why are we afraid to take a leap of faith and build something for our own people?’ That stuck with me,” Dr Elvee recalls. He explains that this focus on supportive care emerged from listening to patients. “We realised that not every patient needs a nurse. Many just need someone trained to support them day to day. It’s not only more affordable, but it also provides employment for local youth and women.” This dual-impact approach, offering accessible healthcare while creating jobs, has become central to Runo’s identity.
Still, the road hasn’t been easy for this venture. One of the biggest challenges, says Dr Elvee, has been public awareness. “People often confuse supportive caregivers with domestic help. We’ve had to do a lot of counseling to explain to them that these are trained professionals, not housemaids. In many rural areas, it’s a new concept.”
With a customer base of over 3,000 individuals and a rapidly growing partner network, Runo Health is proof that technology, when rooted in empathy, can drive real change. Dr Elvee and Siddharth are quick to credit their work on the dedicated on-ground team, whose tireless efforts ensure timely service to those in need. “We’re not just delivering services,” says Dr Elvee. “We’re creating access where it didn’t exist. For many, this isn’t about convenience but a lifeline.”
At a time when many still view entrepreneurship in Meghalaya as a risky path, Runo Health is proving that local problems need local solutions and that bold ideas backed up by hard work can reshape the entire system.