6
Minister is aware that the health officer, both in municipalities and rural
areas, is frequently regarded as an unnecessary burden on the local fund.
But sanitary administration is the major part of local self-government, and
prima facie, it would be surprising if expert supervision in matters of public
health were a mere luxury. This condemnation of the public health expert
is no new thing Dr. Bentley points out that even in the eighties, Sir Lyon
Playfair, himself a medical man, in criticising English public health adminis-
tration in Parliament, stated that a large proportion of the health officers
then employed by the local authorities were paid to do nothing. But in
England, the attitude of the public has changed. To a large extent the fall
in the death-rate by 40 per cent. since the employment of an expert public
health agency was made obligatory (1872) may be attributed to the scientific
application of the principles of public health to the towns and country-side
of England, and the Minister sees no reason why the health officers of Bengal
should not do as good work as those of any other country, if they are
given a fair chance.
Some will be idle and inefficient and lacking the enthusiasm which, amid
a general apathy, such an officer requires ; some may be timorous lest in
their zeal they offend their employers ; but it is unreasonable to expect that
an efficient organization of this kind should be built up in a day.
II. Sanitary Engineering.
Several important municipal water-supply and sewerage and drainage
projects were prepared by the Chief Engineer, Public Health Department,
in 1920 and 1921. Eight major water-supply projects were under construc-
tion in 1920. Two were completed and six, with three schemes, were under
execution in 1921. The total capital expenditure on water-supply in 1920
and 1921 was Rs. 7,79,538 and Rs. 7,34,443. Considerable progress was
made with the important Dacca sewerage scheme, and the Kurseong scheme
was practically completed. The total expenditure on municipal drainage
works in 1920 was Rs. 2,14,004, and in 1921 was Rs. 3¾ lakhs. Sanitary
works were also carried out at institutions such as the Bengal Engineering
College, Dacca University, etc. The out-turn of the department has
suffered from the general financial stringency. Local bodies have found
it difficult to execute schemes which they have adopted, and it has been
impossible in many cases for Government to find the grants-in-aid by
which local enterprise is encouraged. It is worthy of mention that the
important Titaghar sewerage scheme, for which the Jute Mill companies
generously contributed nearly Rs. 7 lakhs, has now received the approval
of the Legislative Council which was necessary, since the scheme commits
Government after about two years to a capital expenditure of Rs. 3½ lakhs.
Sanitation in the towns of Bengal is in most cases deplorably backward :
few of the 117 municipalities possess a suitable water-supply, and the system
of drainage is rarely efficient. Most of them with their present resources are
unable to finance costly projects to make good these defects, and for them
some cheaper form of water-supply, with a limited system of distribution
based perhaps on sub-artesian borings, must be devised. There are, how-
ever, many other municipalities which desire more complete and elaborate
distribution system; if the schemes which have been prepared at their
request are to be carried through, some increase in local taxation seems
inevitable.
Personal.—The thanks of the Minister for Local Self-Government are
due to the Director of Public Health. Dr. Bentley's untiring research into
the problem of malaria has added materially to our knowledge of its preva-
lence in Bengal and the primary and subsidiary conditions of its incidence,
while his scientific treatment of the facts of public health illustrate what is
apt to be overlooked, that progress on proper lines must be based on vital
statistics. There is a tendency to regard the central department of public
health as primarily an executive agency, and to place at its door the failure
to banish within a short time the notorious unhealthiness of Bengal. But
research and supervision are among the chief functions of this department,