2.11 A torch lit

When Dr Mahler, as others, had thought it would take five to ten years to formulate the programme, Dr Benjamin had retorted: You have a maximum of two years and then we shall start.

In these two years of intense and stimulating research, the NTI translated rhetoric into reality. With such support, as envisaged in the five year plans, forthcoming from the centre and the states, the NTI was bound to play a vital role in establishing the DTCs and training key personnel running them. It would be a sustained effort intended to cover all districts of India, widening its coverage and gathering speed as it progressed. The form and content of this gigantic effort contained epidemiological, sociological, technical and administrative inputs, with a stress on community participation.