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was a policy that I steadily pursued, and for the first time in the history of our Department a substantial money grant was made to the Anti-Malarial Co-operative Society and the Kala-azar Associa- tion. So far back as July, 1921, I commended the former society, the latter having not then come into existence, to the favourable notice of the Press Conference which I had invited, and I urged that the Union, the Local, and the District Boards should co-operate with these voluntary organizations. To me it is a matter of gratifica- tion to be able to feel that I have initiated a policy that in its development is bound to be fruitful of good results to village sanitation. The Anti-Malarial Co-operative Societies are spread- ing; and they have provided a field of beneficent activity to our village population, which will not only improve their health, but strengthen their public spirit and stimulate their civic life.

The institutions of Local Self-government are the great agencies for the promotion of public health. As Minister of Local Self- government, I sought to liberalize them and to add to their powers. Lord Morley complained in one of his Despatches that one of the reasons for the want of success of our local bodies was that they had little power and less responsibility. I myself had urged this view in the Press and from the platform; and now that I was in power I sought to remedy a state of things which I had condemned. One of the first things that I did was to de-officialize the Local Boards and to order that their Chairmen should be non-officials to be elected by the Boards. A step in the same direction was to allow the few remaining District Boards which did not yet enjoy the privilege to elect their own Chairmen. The same right was extended to several municipalities that did not possess it. Thus a definite and forward step was taken towards liberalizing the local bodies. This was done by executive order. But I went further. I initiated two projects of law one after another, only one of which I was able to place on the statute book, popularizing our municipal institutions—one of them concerning Calcutta and the other the rest of the province. I claim that both were progressive measures, a necessary corollary to the Reform Scheme. When introducing the Calcutta Municipal Bill in 1921, I said:

'We are on the threshold of a great task, and the Calcutta Municipal Bill will be the first of a series of similar projects of law whose aim and object will be to liberalize our local bodies and to place them in confor- mity with the spirit and essence of the Reforms.' I added:

'It is the intention of Government to follow up this Bill by the amend-