Chapter I PRELIMINARY

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) [xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] (b) "appointed day" means the date on which this Act comes into force under sub-section (3) of section 1; (c) "Ayurvedic system" means the Ashtang Ayurvedic System and the Sidha, and includes the modernised form thereof; (d) "Board" means the Board of Ayurvedic and Unani Systems of Medicine, Himachal Pradesh, established and constituted under section 3; (e) "Director" means the Director of Ayurveda, Himachal Pradesh, and includes an officer appointed by the Government of Himachal Pradesh to exercise the powers and perform the functions of the Director under this Act; (f) "member'" means a member of the Board; (g) "Official Gazette" means the Rajpatra, Himachal Pradesh; (h) "practitioner" means a person who practices the Ayurvedic or Unani system of medicine; (i) "prescribed" means prescribed rules made under this Act; (j) "register" means the register of practitioners maintained under section 14; (k) "registered practitioner" means a practitioner whose name is entered in the Register; (l) "Registrar" means the Registrar appointed under section 13; (m) "Schedule" means a schedule appended to this Act; (n) "transferred territory'" means the territory which on the 1st day of November, 1966, was transferred from the State of Punjab to the State of Himachal Pradesh under section 5 of the Punjab Re-organisation Act, 1966 (31 of 1966); and (o) "Unani system" means the Unani Tibbi system of medicine, and includes the modernised form thereof.

(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (6), there shall be established and constituted, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, a Board to be known as "the Board of Ayurvedic and Unani Systems of Medicine, Himachal Pradesh", consisting of the following members, namely:- (a) the Director of Ayurveda, Himachal Pradesh, ex-officio; (b) three members, of whom one shall be the principal of any Ayurvedic or Unani institution, appointed by the Government of Himachal Pradesh; (c) five members, of whom not less than three shall be persons holding a diploma or degree in the Ayurvedic or Unani system, to be elected by the registered practitioners from amongst themselves. (2) The Board shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power, subject to the provision of this Act, to acquire, hold and dispose of property both movable and immovable and to contract, and shall by the said name, sue and be sued. (3) The Director shall be Chairman of the Board, and the Vice-Chairman shall be elected by the members from amongst themselves. (4) The five seats of members provided in clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall be distributed by the Government of Himachal Pradesh proportionately to their number, as counted on the prescribed date before the election, between the registered practitioners who follow the Ayurvedic system and the registered practitioners who follow the Unani system: Provided that in determining the proportion, a fraction of one-half and less shall be ignored and a fraction of more than one-half shall be counted as one and atleast one seat will be provided for Unani system. (5) Every election or appointment of a member and every vacancy in the office of a member shall be notified in the Official Gazette. (6) Until the Board is established and constituted in accordance with the provisions of the preceding sub-sections, the Government of Himachal Pradesh may constitute a Board consisting of seven persons, including the Director to be appointed by the State Government and the rest from the persons holding a diploma or degree of Ayurvedic or Unani system or practitioners in these two systems, and a Board so constituted shall, as from the commencement of this Act and for a period not exceeding fifteen years from such commencement, be deemed to be the Board established and constituted for the purpose of carrying out all the provisions of this Act, and the provisions of sub-sections (3) and (5) shall apply to such a Board.