In providing Medical relief and care for the people, Maharashtra has always been in the forefront; it accounts for more than 20 percent of the all -India record, whether in terms of the number of doctors or nurses, hospitals, primary health centers or dispensaries or the number of medical collages. And still much more needs to be done, if even the rudimentary demands in this respect are to be met. The consciousness for better health is growing everywhere; the successful spread of the family planning program has intensified it still further.
Maharashtra has the reputation of being one of the best governed states in India; it has an efficient civil service, and a cadre of political workers who are sincere, dedicated and hard working. There is genuine decentralization of power with the Zila Pasishads bearing the main brunt of economic development. Consequently, local leaders have come up everywhere-some good and some not so good, but all charged with the urge to do something. To teeth into their programs, each district is now taken as a unit of planing. The combination of local leaders with young AIS officers has created a new atmosphere everywhere.