4
ANNUAL REPORT ON THE WORKING OF THE
cloth and the economy observed in the dieting of patients and the
elimination of all extras, as far as possible, and the condemnation of a
lesser number of clothes, as a measure of retrenchment.
18. General administration.—Dr. H. S. Hensman, L.M.S., L.R.C.P., M.R.C.S.,
M.P.C, was in charge of the Mental Hospital, Madras, throughout the
year except for one month from 1st May 1932 when Captain G. R. Parasu-
ram, B.A., L.M.S., M.R.C.P., L.R.C.S., L.R.F.P. & S., DIPL. PSYCH., A.I.R.O., the
Deputy Superintendent, acted for him. M.R.Ry. C. Rama Kamath
Avargal, M.B., C.M., was the Superintendent, Mental Hospital, Waltair,
throughout the year. M.R.Ry. B. Rama Baliga Avargal, B.A., M.B., C.M.,
was in charge of the Mental Hospital, Calicut, till 20th March 1931. He
was relieved by M.R.Ry. T. V. Gopala Menon Avargal, M.B.,B.S., on 20th
March 1931, from whom M.R.Ry. S. Kumaraswami Pillai Avargal, L.R.C.P.
& S. (Edin.), etc., took charge on 29th April 1931 and continued to be in
charge till the end of the year.
19. Visitors.—All the official and non-official visitors attended the
monthly meetings of the hospitals by turn. The Inspector-General of
Prisons, Madras, visited all the three mental hospitals. The Surgeon-
General, the District Judge and the District Magistrate of Vizagapatam
visited the Mental Hospital, Waltair, and the Director of Public Health,
Madras, visited the Mental Hospital, Calicut.
20. Verification of service books and stock registers.—The annual
verification of the service books of the establishment and stock registers
was duly carried out in all the three hospitals during the year.
21. General remarks.—The dairy farm at the Mental Hospital, Cali-
cut, was closed. As a measure of retrenchment, two appointments of
Civil Assistant Surgeons have been reduced to those of Sub-Assistant
Surgeons and a post of cook abolished in the Mental Hospital, Madras.
The necessity for retrenchment has acted adversely on the activities of
our mental hospitals. We have had to curtail in instances where there
has been urgent need of expansion. In my report last year I quoted at
length remarks from the report of the Superintendent of the Madras
Mental Hospital relative to (a) the overcrowding of the Madras Mental
Hospital, (b) the necessity of a home for mentally defective children, and
(c) the improvement of the conditions of the medical and nursing staff
of mental hospitals. I may repeat my own concluding remarks of last
year with added emphasis, because the overcrowding has become still
greater and the question more pressing.
The steady growth of the mental hospitals populations is noteworthy.
In the Mental Hospital, Madras, the increase in the year 1929 over the
previous year was 20 per cent, in 1930, 36 per cent and in 1931, 48 percent
over the population for 1928. It is doubtful if this rise can be attributed
to an increase in the actual number of insanes, although the recent
census figures suggest that; for while the 1921 census shows 8,689 insanes
in the Presidency, the 1931 census shows 15,394. This may, however, be
only an apparent increase and it is possible that the poorer people have
become less reluctant to send their insane relatives for institutional
treatment and economic pressure may be another factor that urges them
to do so. Whatever may be the cause of the increase in the number of
insanes shown in the census return, the fact remains that our mental
hospitals are becoming more and more overcrowded. In his report this
year the Superintendent of the Madras Mental Hospital writes :—
"From the statistics already given, it will be seen that the question
of accommodation is becoming increasingly pressing. The overcrowding
has become so great that one is afraid to carry on like this without serious
risks to the health and welfare of the patients. This question cannot
be shelved any longer."
The matter needs to be dealt with now, for otherwise conditions are
likely to become progressively worse and temporary accommodation, if