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{{Short description|Indian civil servant and diwan of the Cochin State}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2017}}
[[File:Bhore_JW.jpg|thumb|In 1922]]
'''Sir Joseph William Bhore''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCSI|KCIE|CBE}} (1878 – 15 August 1960) was an [[Indian people|Indian]] [[civil servant]] and [[diwan (title)|diwan]] of the [[Cochin State]]. He is best remembered for his chairmanship of the Health Survey and Development Committee ([[Bhore Committee]]) that charted a course for [[public health]] investments and infrastructure in [[India]].<ref name="books.google">{{cite book|last=Wujastyk|first=Dagmar|title=Modern and Global Ayurveda: Pluralism and Paradigms|year=2008|publisher=SUNY Press|location=Albany|page=52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3XBu-vpXgoC&q=joseph+william+bhore&pg=PA51|isbn=9780791478165}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw121873/Sir-Joseph-William-Bhore-Margaret-Wilkie-ne-Stott-Lady-Bhore|title = Sir Joseph William Bhore; Margaret Wilkie (Née Stott), Lady Bhore - National Portrait Gallery}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
J. W. Bhore was born in [[Nasik]] in 1878 as the son of [[Rai Sahib|Rao Saheb]] R. G. Bhore and was educated at Bishop's High School and [[Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute|Deccan College]] in [[Pune]] and [[University College, London]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Wujastyk|first=Dagmar|title=Modern and Global Ayurveda: Pluralism and Paradigms|year=2008|publisher=SUNY Press|location=Albany|page=51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3XBu-vpXgoC&q=joseph+william+bhore&pg=PA51|isbn=9780791478165}}</ref>

== ICS Officer ==
Bhore joined the [[Indian Civil Service]] in 1902<ref>{{cite book|title=The India List and India Office List for 1905|year=1905|publisher=Great Britain. India Office|location=London|page=78|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2NPAAAAMAAJ&q=j+w+bhore&pg=PA81}}</ref> and was assigned the Madras ICS cadre<ref>{{cite news|title=Elusive administrative reforms|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2005/10/14/stories/2005101401071000.htm|accessdate=4 March 2013|newspaper=The Hindu Businessline|date=14 October 2005}}</ref> and held a number of senior government offices in [[Madras]] and [[Cochin]].

Bhore worked variously in the Departments of Agriculture and Lands (1924–28), Industries and Labour (1930–32) and Commerce and [[Railways in India|Railways]] (1932–35) during his career as a civil servant.<ref>{{cite book|last=Streat|first=E. Raymond|authorlink=Raymond Streat|title=The Diary of Sir Raymond Streat|year=1987|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|page=264|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxANAQAAIAAJ&q=joseph+william+bhore&pg=PA264|isbn=9780719023903}}</ref>

He was the Acting High Commissioner for India in the [[UK]] during 1922–1923<ref>{{cite web|title=Chapter XV- The High Commissioner for India|url=http://www.houseofdavid.ca/seton15.pdf|accessdate=4 March 2013}}</ref> and a Member of the Governor General's Executive Council during 1926–1927 and 1930–1932. He represented India at the Silver Jubilee Celebrations in [[London]] in 1935. He was also Secretary to the [[Indian Statutory Commission]] – better known as the [[Simon Commission]] - established in 1928 to report on the working of representative institutions in British India and the [[Government of India Act 1919]].<ref>{{cite web|title=List of commissions and officials 1920-1929|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=16609|accessdate=4 March 2013}}</ref>

==Honours==
Bhore was appointed a Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[1920 New Year Honours]],<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/31709/supplements/16098 London Gazette, 30 December 1919]</ref> and appointed a Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]] (CIE) in the [[1923 Birthday Honours|1923 King's Birthday Honours]].<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/32830/supplements/3947 London Gazette, 2 June 1923]</ref> He was promoted to a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in the [[1930 Birthday Honours|1930 King's Birthday Honours]],<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/33611/supplements/3477 London Gazette, 3 June 1930]</ref> and appointed a Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Star of India]] (KCSI) in the [[1933 New Year Honours]].<ref>{{cite web|title=SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 2 JANUARY, 1933|url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/33898/supplements/5/page.pdf|accessdate=4 March 2013}}</ref>

== Diwan of Cochin ==
J. W. Bhore had been Under Secretary, Government of Madras when he was appointed by the [[Maharaja of Cochin|Raja of Cochin]] as Dewan in 1914, succeeding [[Albion Rajkumar Banerji|A. R. Banerji]].<ref>{{cite web|title=State of Cochin (Madras Presidency)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1914/mar/26/state-of-cochin-madras-presidency|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=26 March 1914|access-date=4 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Playne|first=Somerset|title=Southern India: Its History, People, Commerce, and Industrial Resources|year=1914|publisher=Asian Educational Services|page=372|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8WNEcgMr11kC&q=j+w+bhore&pg=PA372|isbn=9788120613447}}</ref> During his five years in Cochin from 1914 to 1919, Bhore paid attention to [[agrarian reforms]] in the state. The Tenancy Regulation of 1914 and the establishment of [[panchayats]] and co-operative societies in Cochin were among his major achievements.<ref>{{cite book|last=Menon|first=A Sreedhara|title=A Survey Of Kerala History|year=2007|publisher=DC Books|location=Kottayam|page=277|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C&q=j+w+bhore&pg=PA277|isbn=9788126415786}}</ref>

== Bhore Committee ==
{{main|Bhore Committee}}
Bhore is perhaps best remembered for his chairmanship of the Health Survey and Development Committee which was established in 1943 by the British colonial government. The committee was tasked with undertaking ‘a broad survey of the present position in regard to health conditions and health organisation in [[British India]]’ and with making ‘recommendations for future developments’ in this regard.<ref name="books.google" />

In its final report in 1946, the Committee noted thus: "If it were possible to evaluate the loss, which this country annually suffers through the avoidable waste of valuable human material and the lowering of human efficiency through malnutrition and preventable morbidity, we feel that the result would be so startling that the whole country would be aroused and would not rest until a radical change had been brought about".<ref>{{cite web|title=FACULTY OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE|url=http://tvmc.ac.in/faculty/medical/basic-medical-sciences/community-medicine.php|publisher=Tirunelveli Medical College|accessdate=4 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414133246/http://tvmc.ac.in/faculty/medical/basic-medical-sciences/community-medicine.php|archive-date=14 April 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Two particular recommendations of the committee dealt with the establishment of [[Primary Health Centre, India|Primary Health Centres]] and the creation of a major central institute for postgraduate medical education and research. In pursuit of these recommendations, the [[Government of India]] established the first Primary Health Centres in 1952 and in 1956, it set up the [[All-India Institute of Medical Sciences]] (AIIMS). The decision to abolish the Licentiate in Medical Practice (LMP) and to replace it with single medical qualification of an [[MBBS|MBBS degree]] as the requirement to become a doctor was also taken up in 1952 on the basis of the committee's recommendation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Awaiting the new foot soldiers of community health care|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/awaiting-the-new-foot-soldiers-of-community-health-care/article3975089.ece|accessdate=4 March 2013|newspaper=The Hindu|date=8 October 2012}}</ref>

The Bhore Committee provided the outline for setting up an organised public health system in India and it was deeply inspired by the [[welfare state]] movement in the U.K. and socialist developments in the [[USSR]]. The Committee however has been criticised for overlooking the role of indigenous practitioners of medicine in the health system leading to a large number of private practitioners, who formed the mainstay of health care in rural areas and small towns, being ignored by the new system.<ref>{{cite news|title=Merit versus social responsibility|url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/07/23/stories/2006072300080100.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824045535/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/07/23/stories/2006072300080100.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 August 2007|accessdate=4 March 2013|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=23 July 2006}}</ref>

== Death ==
Bhore married Scottish physician and medical missionary [[Margaret Stott Bhore|Margaret Bhore]] {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}} (née Stott) in 1911. She died in [[Bhopal]] in May 1945. Bhore died in [[Guernsey]], [[Channel Islands]] on 15 August 1960.<ref>{{cite web|title=Joseph William Bhore|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=38&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=ms_f-80&gsfn=Nazeer&gsln=Bhore|accessdate=4 March 2013}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw121870/Sir-Joseph-William-Bhore?LinkID=mp80297&role=sit&rNo=1 Portrait of Sir Joseph William Bhore]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131209024456/https://nrhm-mis.nic.in/ui/who/PDF/Report%20of%20the%20Health%20Survey%20%26%20Development%20Committee%20Vol%20I.pdf REPORT OF THE HEALTH SURVEY AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE SURVEY (Bhore Committee) - VOL 1]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhore, J. W.}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Nashik]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:High commissioners of India to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Diwans of Cochin]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Indian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Indian knights]]
[[Category:Members of the Council of the Governor General of India]]

Joseph William Bhore - Revision history

Samwaterman2016 at 00:21, 25 March 2026