39

     Government has also sanctioned as a part of their rural programme
the opening of six tuberculosis clinics at the Civil Hospitals at Ahmedabad,
Surat, Poona, Sholapur, Nasik and Belgaum, at a total annual cost
of Rs. 14,680. Each clinic is to be in charge of an Honorary Medical.
Officer acquainted with the modern methods of treatment and prevention
of tuberculosis on Rs. 50 p.m. each. A nurse attached to each clinic,
is to be paid Rs. 100 p. m. plus a house rent allowance of Rs. 15 p. m.,
half of which is to be met by the Red Cross Society.

     12 Bengal.—No scheme for the employment of subsidised medical
practitioners in rural areas has been adopted in Bengal.

     The Local Government, in pursuance of their scheme of rural re-cons-
truction financed from the Government of India grant sanctioned in
1935, a sum of Rs. 1,66,220 for the establishment of 139 Union Board
Dispensaries in the 24 districts of Bengal, on the condition that the annual
recurring expenditure, which was estimated at Rs. 850 per dispensary,
is met by contributions from the District and Union Boards concerned,
supplemented by a small fee of one anna on each new patient and 3 pies
en each old patient. The scheme is generally appreciated by the rural
people, but difficulties have been experienced in obtaining funds to meet
the recurring cost of maintenance, as some District Boards are unwilling
to contribute their share, while others are not solvent enough to do
so.

     It is considered that medical relief in rural areas in the province is
yet inadequate and that every Union Board or a group of villages, where
there is no Union Board, should have a dispensary of its own in the
charge of a qualified medical man.

     There are at present 1,102 hospitals and dispensaries in the rural areas.
Besides there are reported to be 2,117 qualified private medical practitioners
settled in these areas, thus making a total of 3,219 doctors in all.

     13. United Provinces.—Additional medical relief in rural areas in this
province is provided through subsidised medical practitioners.

     A scheme for the subsidisation of qualified midwives and nurses
agreeable to settling down in rural areas is also under trial. Such midwives
and nurses are paid a subsidy of Rs. 100 per annum.

     14. Punjab.—The Government of the Punjab decided in 1925 to open
375 new village dispensaries in order to provide adequate facilities for
medical aid in rural areas. Of these 360 have already been opened and
the opening of the remaining 15 has been postponed on account of paucity
of funds.

     The Local Government provided funds for the buildings of the dispen-
saries and the quarters for sub-assistant surgeons and dispensers and it
also met the cost of initial equipment. It pays an annual grant of
Rs. 2,500 for the maintenance of each dispensary.