34
than a practitioner registered under the aforesaid Bill or under the Bombay
Medical Act, 1912, shall be eligible to practise any system of medicine,
Surgery or midwifery, but the Provincial Government is authorised to direct
that this provision shall not apply to any person or class of persons or in
any specified area.
2. The Madras Government have recently accorded a certain amount of
recognition to the practitioners of the Indian systems of medicine inasmuch
as candidates who have acquired the diploma in medicine of the Govern-
ment Indian Medical School, Madras, are, besides medical graduates and
licentiates, eligible for appointment to subsidized rural dispensaries.
3. In response to a number of requests the Punjab Government have
recently decided to appoint a Committee with the Inspector General of Civil
Hospitals, Punjab, as President, to consider steps that can be taken to give
protection to practitioners of indigenous systems of medicine on the lines
of the rules introduced by the Government of the United Provinces in 1931
for the registration of vaids and hakims and whether any legislation on the
subject is necessary, and if so, on what lines.
4. With a view to recognising the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of
medicine the Government of the United Provinces propose to introduce
legislation on the subject at the next session of the Assembly. The
Hon'ble Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Minister for Local Self Government
and Public Health, United Provinces, recently received a deputation of
Vaids and Hakims. It is contemplated to adopt a system of registration
or otherwise of recognition. The Ministry have recently addressed Local
Boards inviting their co-operation in inaugurating a system of subsidising
Vaids and Hakims in the villages which would include the provision of a
cheap system of medical treatment in rural areas. A sum of Rs. 40 lakhs
available in the current year's budget for this purpose is being utilised for
the proposed subsidy.
16. RURAL MEDICAL RELIEF.
During recent years the problem of Rural Medical Relief has received
considerable attention from Provincial Public Health and Medical Depart-
ments, and in 1934-35 the Government of India allotted a sum of Rs. 1
crore for rural reconstruction, to be distributed on a basis of rural popula-
tion. The various schemes evolved deal with the more pressing needs of
village life and include measures to deal with sanitation, malaria, water
supplies, drainage and roads.
2. The Rockefeller Foundation has played a very valuable part in recent
years in developing health activities in rural areas. Their policy has been
the establishment of Health Units in co-operation with provincial Govern-
ments and the Governments of Indian States. Already units have been
established in Partabgarh (United Provinces), Poonamalle (Madras), Najaf-
garh (Delhi) and Neyyattinkara (Travancore), and a scheme is under pre-
paration for starting a unit in Bengal. The activities of these units have
been described in greater detail in the report of the Public Health Commis-
sioner, but it may be pointed out that their role is intended to be purely
preventive. It is therefore important that in the health unit areas the