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Written by the Remaking Britain team. First published December 2025.

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The British welfare state was established by the Labour Government in November 1942 and evolved across the 20th century. A welfare state is namely a system used by government and other public institutions to promote the wellbeing of citizens through social and economic policies related to health, education and social security. The system of welfare that we are familiar with today has been shaped by South Asians who were recruited by the NHS in large numbers, or worked as teachers, carers and social workers. This is part of a longer history of South Asians creating or being part of local systems of welfare and wellbeing from the mid-19th century onward, particularly in remote geographies across the UK.

Health and social reform

From the mid-19th century onward, South Asian doctors settled across the UK and provided local communities with healthcare. Some South Asians advanced important medical procedures.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: (P) GP 00 -E(12). Public Domain

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Obituary for Frederick Akbar Mahomed, 29 November 1884

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Obituary for Frederick Akbar Mahomed, 29 November 1884

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Frederick Akbar Mahomed, for example, was a pioneering medical researcher. Mohamed, who was born in Brighton in 1849 and was the grandson of famed shampooing surgeon Sake Dean Mahomed (1759–1851), undertook his medical training at Sussex County Hospital and Guy's Hospital, London. He pioneered new forms of measuring blood pressure and hypertension. His important achievements were recorded in his obituary, following his death on 22 November 1884, aged 35.

The role of South Asian doctors often extended beyond providing treatments for patients’ physical and mental health. Doctors became a vital part of community life, and often advocated for social reform that advanced the wellbeing of working-class people. Chuni Lal Katial (1898–1978), for example, migrated to Britain in 1927 following medical training in India. After a period of study in Liverpool, Katial moved to London and eventually set up his own medical practice in Finsbury, where he largely attended to working-class patients. Alongside being involved in the movement for Indian independence, Katial was also dedicated to local politics. In 1934, he won a seat for the Labour Party on Finsbury Borough Council, and eventually became Britain’s first South Asian mayor in 1938. His advocacy as the chairman of Finsbury’s Public Health Committee included the creation of a health centre which brought several health services, such as doctors’ surgeries, TB clinics and a dentist, under one roof. This became the blueprint for similar provisions in the NHS, which was formed in 1948.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: NEWS7350. Public Domain

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Article on Finsbury Health Centre with portrait of C L Katial, 1937

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Article on Finsbury Health Centre with portrait of C L Katial, 1937

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There are several historical examples of South Asian doctors who became involved in social welfare campaigning. In the Rhondda Valley, for example, Kristnalal Datta (1865–1928), a doctor from Bengal and the Chief Medical Officer of Ferndale Workmen's Hospital, delivered healthcare to miners from 1900 onward. He gave lectures on the economic condition of miners, housing, unionism and sanitation. Similarly, in Dundee, Jainti Saggar (1898–1954) – who originally came to Britain to study medicine at University College, St Andrews in 1919 – was elected as a Labour councillor in 1936. He advocated for the protection of Dundee’s jute industry and fairer wages for Indian workers.

Social welfare of workers

Amongst the most pressing issues for South Asian welfare reformers and activists in the early to mid-20th century was the working and living conditions of working-class South Asians in Britain. South Asians had long migrated to Britain in search of work. This included Indian seamen (lascars), who faced racial abuse and harsh conditions on ships. In turn, some seamen chose to jump ship and settle in British port towns, where they often faced destitution. Others contended with several months of no work as they awaited passage back to India. In turn, welfare organizations were established. The Indian Seamen’s Welfare League, for example, was established by former seamen Ayub Ali (1880–1980) and Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi (1915–?) in Whitechapel, London in 1943. Its purpose was to offer social support for destitute seamen.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: IOR/L/PJ/12/630.

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New Scotland Yard report on the Indian Seamen's Welfare League, 1943 (f. 139r)

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New Scotland Yard report on the Indian Seamen's Welfare League, 1943 (f. 139r)

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Crown Copyright: This material has been published under an Open Government Licence.

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Similarly, the Hindustan Community House, which was established in Poplar in 1937 by wealthy Indian Kundan Lal Jalie (1909–1983), aimed to meet the welfare needs of Indian workers in east London. It offered workers low-cost lodging, as well as food and clothing, and helped them to secure employment. The organisation also provided free medical care, as well as English classes which were attended by workers and children. Alongside these services, there were recreational facilities to play sports and games and a gramophone which was used by visitors to listen to South Asian music. These activities were made possible by donations from wealthy supporters. The centre continued to operate until it was razed in the Blitz during the Second World War.

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Transcript from the 'Hindustan Community House First Report', April 1940, Tower Hamlets Archives Collection

Since the completion of the House, fifty men have lived in it and another fifty have taken meals in it. Indian or English food is available for these men. To enable the fullest use to be made of the House its charges for board of lodging are fixed at the lowest possible figure.

The House has been able to accommodate shipwrecked sailors, and Indians stranded in London.
…

Two Indian doctors, who have returned to India, attended the weekly clinic and gave free medical advice. The new surgery has been equipped by an Indian doctor. It is open three nights a week for free medical advice and attention. A fourth Indian doctor is in charge.
…

Two classes in English with an average of fifteen to twenty students were held every week night. These were discontinued on account of the war, but have since been restarted.

A class in English and Urdu for Indian children was discontinued owing to the evacuation of the children.

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Expanding the welfare state

In November 1942, the Liberal politician and economist William Beveridge (1879–1963) presented his report Social Insurance and Allied Services, commonly known as the Beveridge Report, to Parliament. The report, which outlined a vision to create a fairer society for citizens and proposed fundamental changes to existing systems of social welfare, became foundational to Britain’s welfare state, which was reformed after the Second World War by the Labour Government.

Amongst the most important changes in welfare after the Second World War was the establishment of the NHS (National Health Service), which was spearheaded by Labour Minister of Health Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan (1897–1960). In the years following its establishment, the NHS – which advocates for universal, equitable and comprehensive healthcare – recruited doctors and nurses from across the British Empire and Commonwealth. In turn, large numbers of South Asians came to Britain to work in the healthcare sector. This included Gulzar Waljee, who was born in Tanga, Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania) in 1940. Her father migrated decades earlier from the Kutch district of Gujarat to East Africa in 1890, and worked in railway construction. Gulzar migrated to Guilford in 1959, aged 19, to train as an NHS nurse. This was part of a British Council scheme which aimed to recruit nurses and midwives from around the world to work for the NHS.

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Held by Surrey History Centre. SHC ref Z/748/1; SHC ref Z/748/2. Copyright of Surrey History Centre and Gulzar Waljee.

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Tanga newspaper cutting documenting Gulzar Waljee’s journey to Guildford and photograph of Gulzar outside the Royal Surrey County Hospital

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Tanga newspaper cutting documenting Gulzar Waljee’s journey to Guildford and photograph of Gulzar outside the Royal Surrey County Hospital

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She received her initial training at Royal Surrey County Hospital, which was organised by the Guildford School of Nursing, where she worked for three years. Arriving with limited English, she learnt the language while working and studying. In 1962, Waljee successfully passed her nursing exams and, in 1963 became a State Registered Nurse. After a short period in East Africa, where she worked as a nurse in Nairobi, Kenya, Waljee returned to Britain and moved to Cambridge with her husband. Waljee had a 30-year career in midwifery and nursing. Many of her siblings also migrated to Britain to work for the NHS.

Similarly, Amarjit Singh Nijjar (born 1951) worked in the NHS for 40 years, as a GP in the town of Erskine, outside Glasgow. He migrated to Scotland with his mother and brother aged seven, to join his father who had lived and worked in Glasgow as a pedlar, or door-to-door salesman, from 1938 onward. In an oral history interview, Nijjar described how his work as a GP was shaped by his Sikh faith.

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Held by British Library. Shelfmark: C2047. © Remaking Britain. Image credit: Photo by R. Ahmed.

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Amarjit Singh Nijar talking about how his Sikh faith has shaped his work as a GP (recorded 2025)

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Amarjit Singh Nijar talking about how his Sikh faith has shaped his work as a GP (recorded 2025)

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Welfare, migration and local government

Alongside welfare reform after the Second World War, local authorities also implemented policies to manage the housing, welfare and educational needs of growing migrant populations.

Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 gave permission to the Secretaries of State to provide grants to local authorities with growing migrant populations. The purpose was ‘to make special provision in the exercise of any of their functions in consequence of the presence within their areas of persons belonging to ethnic minorities whose language or customs differ from those of the rest of the community’. The funding supported a wide range of projects and initiatives. As the table below shows, local authorities were granted a total of £1,409,290 to fund Section 11-related services in 1968. This figure, however, requires contextualisation: this constituted a very small proportion of the state’s overall expenditure on health and welfare. Notably, between 1967–68, the government spent a total of £1,619 million on health and welfare provisions.

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Table from the Local Government Act 1966 (Section 11 Grants)

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Table from the Local Government Act 1966 (Section 11 Grants)

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Published under an Open Parliamentary Licence

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Examples of Section 11-funded projects include a business service for racialised minority communities in Oxford named the Ethnic Minority Business School or EMBS, which was established in 1988, and a library awareness scheme for South Asian families living in Teesside, which was led by Cleveland County Council from 1994 onward.

While Section 11 funding by the Home Office supported the establishment of wide-ranging projects, other local authority-led initiatives proved harmful and discriminatory. The most prominent example is ‘bussing out’. From 1965 to 1976, ‘bussing out’ was mandated by the Department of Education and Science to supposedly help non-anglophone and migrant South Asian, African and West Indian schoolchildren to integrate into British society. The policy of capping the number of migrant children in individual schools was adopted by some local authorities, including Bradford and Blackburn. In turn, Black and South Asian migrant children were forced to travel many miles to rural, white-majority schools, to manage the number of migrant children in local schools. 11 local authorities adopted ‘bussing out’. This form of educational discrimination had adverse effects on children. A report on the dispersal of migrant children in Blackburn by Professor W E Hawkins on behalf of the Race Relations Board – which was introduced under the Race Relations Act of 1965 to investigate complaints of racial discrimination – found that few migrant children benefited from the language skills development that the local authority said would be strengthened by dispersal. In addition, few teachers had skills in teaching children in another language. Students who were subjected to ‘bussing out’ have subsequently described being placed into the special educational needs department of their school, despite being fluent in English.

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Conclusion

South Asians have played a leading role in the development of the welfare state as we know it today. From the mid-20th century onward, organisations were established which addressed the concerns of working-class South Asians, particularly in relation to housing, health, education and socialisation. Moreover, localised welfare and social reform by South Asian doctors influenced the structure of the NHS, which was introduced after the Second World War when the modern welfare state was established. In the years following its establishment, the NHS became a major recruiter of Commonwealth citizens and, as a result, South Asian doctors and nurses came to Britain to work in the healthcare sector. As the number of migrants in Britain grew, so did the need for policies to address a range of welfare concerns. Some of these policies however, such as ‘bussing out’, had detrimental consequences given the discriminatory perception of migrant South Asian students as educationally incapable.

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The text in this article is available under a Creative Commons License.

Credit: Remaking Britain team (Rehana Ahmed, Aleena Din, Sumita Mukherjee, Susheila Nasta, Maya Parmar, Florian Stadtler, Rozina Visram).

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