HEALTH AND WELFARE. 261
schools for children from 6 to 12 years, industrial classes for boys over 12
years and factory schools for half-time workers, whilst yearly contribu-
tions of about Rs. 3,500 are made to other schools attended by the
children and dependants of employees. The management is satisfied
that there is a distinct desire for education of the children, and that
this and the other welfare activities have tended to create a better
outlook on life among their employees. In Bombay, Ahmedabad,
the jute mills area and Yenangyaung less ambitious welfare schemes
have met with considerable success. Some employers, however, have
lacked vision and others money ; these have pointed to the more or less
experimental nature of the enterprises already embarked upon and the
handicap from which they suffer owing to the worker’s tendency to be
suspicious of anything new, even when it is to his advantage. We do not
attempt here to define the term ‘‘ welfare ”’ as applied to the industrial
worker. It is one which must necessarily be elastic, bearing a somewhat
different interpretation in one country from another, according to the
different social customs, the degree of industrialisation and the educa-
tional development of the worker. We have endeavoured through-
out our report to survey the field and to emphasise the wider aspects of
the problem. We now use the term in its narrower and more specialised
sense, with special reference to the industrial woman worker and her
child.
Women Doctors.

Indian women are generally unwilling to avail themselves of the
services of male doctors, and wherever a hospital organisation of any size
2xists, whether it be provided by an employer or by a local body, the
addition to the medical staff of a woman doctor is to be commended. Such
an appointment immediately changes the outlook of the women towards
the medical facilities placed at their disposal. A woman doctor is not
only able to take complete charge of the women’s and children’s depart-
ment, but can very frequently get serious cases into hospital which would
not otherwise be brought. The development of women’s clinics, the
management of maternity wards and the supervision of child welfare
centres and creches are all legitimate and desirable expansions of medical
and welfare work, which only become possible when a woman doctor is
available. She should also be able to supervise the trained midwives
Practising in her area, and even to gain the confidence of the untrained
dads, thus in time raising the standard of their work. Indeed, she should
be in control of all activities dealing with the health and welfare of the
women and children. Medical women are increasing in numbers through-
Sut India, and we feel sure that, if appointments of the kind we suggest
were made available, many of them would be attracted to the industrial
areas with their opportunities for successful careers.
Health Visitors and Child Welfare Centres.
_ The figures we have been able to obtain for infantile mortality
‘ndicate only too clearly the necessity for a wide expansion of child welfare
and maternity relief organisations. The need for trained health visitors