No. IV-20—3939.
FROM
A. R. EDWARDS, ESQ., B.A., I.O.S.,
DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF LAND RECORDS AND AGRICULTURE,
ASSAM,
To
THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF
ASSAM.
Silchar, the 29th June 1916.
SIR,
I HAVE the honour to forward the report of the Civil Veterinary Department
of this province for the year ending the 31st March, 1916, together with a brief report
on veterinary work in the Manipur State, which is reproduced as appendix A.
2. Mr. Harris held charge of the Department throughout the year. He was
on tour for 170 days against 193 days last year and inspected the work of all the
Veterinary Assistants, except those at Hailakandi, Barpeta, Mangaldai, North Lakhim-
pur and Kohima. Though the amount of touring done by him was less than in
the previous year, he has carried out much more than the prescribed minimum inspec-
tion of Veterinary Assistants, which is half of the total number in the Province in the
course of each year. A considerable amount of his time was spent in the year under
report in attending outbreaks and to the results of inoculation carried out by the
Veterinary Assistants in the district of Sylhet. It is satisfactory to find that the
number of days each of the three Veterinary Inspectors was on tour was greater
than in the previous year. The Inspectors made, on the average, four inspections
of the work of each of the Veterinary Assistants within their respective circles,
besides attending outbreaks and doing miscellaneous work. I inspected the Veteri-
nary Dispensaries at Sylhet, Jorhat, Golaghat, North Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Nazira,
Tinsukia, Moriani and the Hospitals at Gauhati, Shillong and Silchar. Sir Archdale
Earle visited the Silchar Hospital.
3. During the year under report the 6 stipendiaries whom this Province is
entitled to send annually to the Bengal Veterinary College, were sent there; in
addition 5 more stipends were granted in consideration of the vacancies for Assam
students which could not be filled up in previous years for want of candidates.
Two of the students, however, left the College soon after joining. Six students
of the two previous years being included, there was a total of 15 students from
this Province at the College. Of these 2 passed the Diploma examination, one a Khasi
youth, standing first in order of merit and gaining several prizes. These two have
since been appointed as Veterinary Assistants. Nine other students passed their class
examinations. There were 4 Local Board stipendiaries, of whom 3 passed their class
examinations. The improvement in the merit of the Local Board stipendiaries is
perhaps, partly due to the new system of having the Local Board nominees examined
by the Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, before they are finally accepted.
There were no private students. In future the supply of trained men should be much
larger than it has been in the past; it is hoped that the higher scale of pay which has
been introduced during the year will result in improvement in the quality as well as
the numbers of the candidates.
4. The total number of deaths from contagious diseases among cattle reported
during the year under report wa9 43, 536 against 36,230 in the previous year.
The higher figures are, doubtless partly due to better reporting. Some 49 per cent, of
these deaths were due to rinderpest against 27 per cent, in the preceding year. In
Sylhet there was an outbreak of a very virulent type and extensive nature, and the
number of deaths in that district was 8,444 against 1,185 in the previous year.
5. The inoculation work done by the Veterinary Assistants showed a very con-
siderable increase. The utility of the work can be judged from the fact that out of
34,850 cattle inoculated in villages in which outbreaks of rinderpest occurred only
633 died of the disease, while 9,164 deaths were reported amongst uninoculated
animals. In all 49,162 animals were inoculated against contagious disease ; of these