Abstract
Purpose: Globally, marginalized communities are prone to disparities, stereotypes, biases, and poor health outcomes in the arena of health-care. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these issues and further worsened the health-care experiences and outcomes of vulnerable individuals worldwide. The aim of the study is to identify the multiple factors responsible for transforming the health-care experiences of Assam's 'Miya' community during Covid-19 pandemic. Design: Through an exploratory, qualitative framework based on semi-structured interview schedule, the study investigates the objective among a samle of 20 male and female 'Miya' patients and their attendees for 3 months within the premises of a government hospital setting located in Guwahati, Assam. Findings: Inductive and thematic interpretation of data has revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the exploitative and unjust hospital system has facilitated discriminatory and stressful experiences among the 'Miya' community. In the context of health-care, they witnessed rising stereotypes, social exclusion, neglect, and social distancing by non-Miya counterparts due to their contested social identity, poor literary and lingusitic skills, changing hospital setting and protocols, lack of internal connections and privileges, and politicization of their bodies.