Book Reviews
VOLUME 16 NUMBER 3 MARCH/APRIL 2003
National Health Programmes of India:
J. Kishore (ed). Century Publications, New Delhi, 2002. 408 pp, Rs 250, US$ 20. ISBN 81–
8813204–7.
Considering that all National Programmes are ‘designed’ and ‘implemented’ from Delhi, it was no surprise
that, among the ‘experts’ the editor has acknowledged, 27 of the 30 are from Delhi. Dr Kishore, in his
preface, has been very modest in writing that ‘this book is not an alternative to the documents produced
by the Health Ministry and other departments of the government on various programmes’, since this book
is very readable.
The book has been very cleverly divided into ‘Programmes’, ‘Policies’ and ‘Legislations’; all of which are
core items for the average teacher of public health, the student who has to pass examinations, the
bureaucrat who rules by the book, the public health manager who has to differentiate the ‘rule’ from
what is practical, and the odd person who would like to know the rule in order to get the best out of the
system.
From the perspective of a teacher and a student, I found that this book has all the facts one needs to
know about health programmes in India. It covers the breadth, and is quite succinct. It is hence useful as
a reference book for libraries, but one is not likely to want to carry this book around all the time.
Some chapters of the book are disappointing where no references are provided, making the reader
wonder about the authenticity of the statements made. Particularly distressing is the poor construction of
sentences, spelling errors and bad grammar, all of which could have been so easily remedied by any
standard word processing software.
While I have not yet figured out how the cost of this book, i.e. Rs 250, translates to US$ 20, this fourth
edition is a reasonably good update, particularly since it has been timed to come out after the launch of
some recent programmes of major importance in India, such as the Reproductive and Child Health
Programme, National Health Policy 2002 and RNTCP’s DOTS programme.
I would in any case recommend a reference copy for my library, since what is contained within the covers
of this book would otherwise have to be sourced from innumerable publications and websites.
Vinohar Balraj
Community Health and Training Centre
Christian Medical College
Vellore
Tamil Nadu