7
anthrax in Gauhati town during the last part of March and inoculated 11 horses
against the disease. As a Staff Assistant he inoculated 472 head of cattle against
rinderpest in Dibrugarh and was deputed to Mangaldai for over a month in connection
with the treatment of a surra case under experiment.
53. Veterinary Assistant B. 0. Chatterjee joined the staff appointment at Gauhati
on the 7th December 1912, and was on tour in the mofussil for 45 days. He attended
the outbreak of rinderpest on the Mishmi road and inoculated 390 animals. He was
also deputed to Peshawar in connection with the purchase, selection and escort of
Dumha rams and ewes, etc., obtained for the Agriculture Department, Assam. At
headquarters the services of Staff Assistants are required in the Laboratory, Serum
depôt, etc.
54. During the year under report the services of Reserve Assistants were on con-
tinuous requisition and they were deputed to the following places :—
Hailakandi, Srimangal, Sunamganj, Gauhati, Mangaldai, Nowgong, Sibsagar and
Dibrugarh.
55. The names of the following Assistants are noted for their good work:—
Staff Assistant S. 0. Ghosh, who has been promoted to Inspector, B. C. Chatterjee,
who has been promoted to the Staff, H. 0. Sen of North Sylhet, J. Ahmed
of Jorhat and M. R. Borrah of Sibsasjar.
56. I regret to say that a number of Assistants showed a considerable amount
of apathy and lack of initiative in their work. Such men never improve by
experience, because they lack the power of observation which is essential for correct
diagnosis and proper medicinal treatment.
PART V.—EXPENDITURE OF THE DEPARTMENT.
57. Table XIV (a).—The cost of the Department, as stated by the Comproller,
Assam, was Rs. 63,213-2-9. The amount of Rs. 7,808-6-3 shown under Subordinate
Establishment—Provincial was arrived at after deducting the sum of Rs. 13,626-1-4
recovered from the Local Bodies from the gross expenditure of Rs. 21,434--7-7. The
contribution of Rs. 10,000 by this Province paid towards the upkeep of the Bengal
Veterinary College has not been included in the expenditure under Veterinary Instruc-
tion.
PART VI.—GENERAL REMARKS.
58. At the beginning of the year a separate Department was created for Assam
with its headquarters at Gauhati. At the present time the Department is handi-
capped for want of suitable accommodation for its Office, Laboratory and Hospital.
It is probable that this defect wiil be remedied before the and of the. current year, as
land has been acquired and administrative sanction to the project of headquarters
buildings has been received.
59. The most serious outbreak of the year under report was one of rinderpest,
which occurred in the Lakhimpur district. It occurred just at the beginning of the
year when the territorial changes took place and no reserve or Staff Assistants were
available, and consequently there was considerable delay in getting assistants to the
seat of outbreak. In this connection I must refer to the statement made in last
year's report that much could be done by managers of Tea gardens if they closed
temporarily all the local cattle fairs and strictly stopped all movements of cattle in
and out of the gardens. The managers might be warned, when a serious outbreak of
cattle disease is threatened, by the District Officers or local authorities, who should
give prompt intimation that disease exists and is spreading. To this end the orders
of the Administration have already been issued to all Local Boards to give timely
notice of outbreaks of diseases in the neighbouring villages.
60. The system of reporting outbreaks has since been improved by the inclusion
of tea garden managers, village gaonburas and village school masters in the
reporting agencies ; post-card forms of report have also been revised. This scheme
has only been sanctioned in February last and no remarks can now be made regarding
the value of the system.
61. It has been found that the present rate of pay does not attract sufficient
candidates. A proposal is now under consideration to increase the rate and thus
attract more suitable men.