Madhu Nagla (editor) - Readings in Indian Sociology: Volume IV: Sociology of Health

All articles and chapters have been reproduced exactly as they were first published. All cross-references can be found in the original source of publication.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources for permission to reproduce material for this volume.

1. Sociological Inroads into Medicine: A Tribute to Aneeta A. Minocha (19432007), Ruby Bhardwaj
   Vol. 57, No. 1 (JanuaryApril), 2008: 115125.
2. Food: The Immanent Cause from OutsideMedical Lore on Food and Health in Village Tamil Nadu, V. Sujatha
   Vol. 51, No. 1 (March), 2002: 80100.
3. State Sponsored Health Care in Rural Uttar Pradesh: Grassroots Encounters of a Survey Researcher, Rajiv Balakrishnan
   Vol. 45, No. 1 (March), 1996: 8795.
4. Gram Panchayat and Health Care Delivery in Himachal Pradesh, Sthitapragyan Ray
   Vol. 56, No. 1 (JanuaryApril), 2007: 88108.
5. Occupational Attitudes of Physicians, A. Ramanamma and Usha Bambawale
   Vol. 27, No. 2 (September), 1978: 190207.
6. The System of Hope: The Constitution of Identity in Medical Institutions, Roma Chatterji
   Vol. 42, No. 1&2 (MarchSeptember), 1993: 157170.
7. Voice of Illness and Voice of Medicine in Doctor-Patient Interaction, Mathew George
   Vol. 59, No. 2 (MayAugust), 2010: 159178.
8. Narratives of Sickness and Suffering: A Study of Malaria in South Gujarat, Purendra Prasad
   Vol. 54, No. 2 (MayAugust), 2005: 218237.
9. Caste Variations in Reproductive Health Status of Women: A Study of Three Eastern States, Papia Raj and Aditya Raj
   Vol. 53, No. 3 (SeptemberDecember), 2004: 326346.
10. Informal Social Networks, Sonography and Female Foeticide in India, Tulsi Patel
    Vol. 56, No. 2 (MayAugust), 2007: 243262.
11. Perception and Work Ethos of Medical Experts Dealing with Infertile Couples: A Study in Medical Sociology, Bela Kothari
    Vol. 61, No. 1 (JanuaryApril), 2012: 144158.
12. Correcting the Reproductive Impairment: Infertility Treatment Seeking Experiences of Low Income Group Women in Mumbai Slums, Meghana Joshi
    Vol. 57, No. 2 (MayAugust), 2008: 155172.
13. Risk Culture, Propeprtied Classes, and Dynamics of Regions: A Study of HIV/AIDS in East Godavari District (Andhra Pradesh), Asima Jena and Purendra Prasad
    Vol. 58, No. 3 (SeptemberDecember), 2009: 383402.
14. Prison Inmate Awareness of HIV and AIDS in Durban, South Africa, Shanta Singh
    Vol. 57, No. 2 (MayAugust), 2008: 193210.
15. Medicalisation of Mental Disorder: Shifting Epistemologies and Beyond, Tina Chakravarty
    Vol. 60, No. 2 (MayAugust), 2011: 266286.
16. Indigenisation Not Indianisation of Psychiatry: An Anthropological Perspective, Renu Addlakha
    Vol. 59, No. 1 (JanuaryApril), 2010: 4668.

Ruby Bhardwaj

M edical sociology stands enriched by the original and insightful contributions of Aneeta A. Minocha (ne Aneeta Ahluwalia) who passed away on 5 October 2007. For over four decades she contributed to the enhancement and enrichment of medical sociology in India, and it would not be incorrect to say that her research, reports, debates, discussions and critical inputs helped nurture and fortify the discipline when it was still budding. In the early 1970s, she prepared a trend report on Sociology of Medicine in India in which she identified several key areas of research, which were later taken up by scholars as research themes. This helped stimulate and shape the emergence of medical sociology in India.

Minocha (b. 9 September 1943) was associated with the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi for over four decades. She joined the Department as a Master's student in 1963 and later pursued her doctoral research under the supervision of A.M. Shah. As a PhD candidate, she brought laurels to the Department. Charles Leslie, an eminent medical sociologist, who was one of the examiners of her doctoral thesis, rated her work as first class. In an encouraging gesture he offered the honorarium that he was to receive from the Leslie recommended her thesis for publication in the monograph series, Comparative Studies of Medical Systems and Health Care, at the University of California Press. She joined the Department, where she was a student, as a faculty member in 1968 and also served as the Director of the Delhi School of Economics for a short while before her illness. In addition to teaching the masters course at the Department, she supervised the research of twenty-one MPhil and eleven PhD candidates. As an eminent medical sociologist, she was a member of a large number of advisory committees at the World Health Organisation, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Indian Council of Social Science Research.

Minocha had a wide range of interests besides medical sociology. She wrote on population studies, sociology of professions and sociology of education. The endeavour in this paper, however, is to highlight her contributions to medical sociology.