5
The Sub-Inspectors are required to inspect 70—75 per cent. of all operations within
their circles, and the Inspectors 35—40 per cent. of the district operations. The
percentage of inspection by the native Inspectors during the year was 91.14, and in the
combined Eastern Bengal districts it was as high as 96.48. The best work was recorded
in Bakarganj, Pabna, Rajshahi, and Dinajpur.
In the Assam Valley districts the percentage of inspection was only 83.04. It
was highest in Sibsagar and Lakhimpur.
In some districts,—like Mymensingh, Dacca, and Bakarganj,—it has been proposed
to provide the inspecting staff with bicycles, and I think the proposal to be well worthy
of consideration.
Vaccination in compulsory areas.
11. There are two Vaccination Acts in force in the
Province, viz., Imperial Act XIII of 1880 and Bengal
Act V of 1880.
The Bengal Act is in force in all the Municipalities of Eastern Bengal and in
the Silchar and Tezpur Municipalities, Sibsagar and Shillong Stations, and Jorhat
and Golaghat Unions in Assam. In the remaining Municipalities of Assam, Act
XIII is in force, except in Barpeta, where compulsory vaccination has not yet been
introduced.
The Bengal Act is well-suited to the requirements of the Province, and its provi-
sions can easily be understood by the inspecting staff. At the present time, however,
its working is not altogether satisfactory, because these officers have not yet realised
the importance of maintaining the registers, and of following the history of the children
from the time they are born until they have been vaccinated, and of enforcing the pro-
visions of the Act when necessary. Moreover, the vaccinators, who are employed by
these Municipalities, are often not of the best stamp. The salary which is given to
them is not large enough to attract experienced men who have learnt how to gain
the confidence of the people, and the appointments are frequently only accepted by
juniors in the hope of obtaining permanent and better-paid appointments afterwards.
Statement No. VI shows that out of 11,222 infants under one year, who were
available for vaccination, only 5,853, or slightly over one-half, were vaccinated.
The Civil Surgeon of the Dacca district reports that great difficulty is experienced
on account of the prejudice of the parents against their children being vaccinated
before the second year of life. Owing to this cause, only 383 infants under one year
of age were vaccinated in the Dacca and Narayanganj Municipalities, out of 2,419.
Again in the Mymensingh district, in the towns of Netrakona, Jamalpur,
Kishorganj and Bajitpur, out of 1,133 infants available, only 128 were vacci-
nated. It seems, however, that failure in this instance is due largely
to negligence, because in the neighbouring Municipality of Sherpur, 291 out of
366 were vaccinated.
In Nator and Dinajpur also the work is unsatisfactory. In the former, only
16 out of 103 infants were vaccinated, and in the latter only 14 out of 140. The
Civil Surgeon of the Dinajpur district remarks that " the people refuse to produce
their children " and that " 30 notices were issued, but in no case was prosecution found
necessary." The attitude of the lower classes he describes as being unfavourable to
vaccination.
At Chittagong, and in the three Municipalities of the Malda district, there has
been a marked improvement in compulsory vaccination. In Chittagong the increase
has been due to the introduction of birth registers into the town, and in the Malda
district to the efforts to overcome the prejudices of the Ferazi Muhammadans at
Nawabganj.
In the Assam Valley districts, with the exception of Goalpara and Sibsagar,
vaccination in compulsory areas is morel satisfactory, owing to the greater personal
attention which the Civil Surgeons are able to give to the work. Dibrugarh, to take
the best example, reports the vaccination of 225 infants out of 261 available.
The Civil Surgeon of Kamrup notes on the procedure which he has adopted in
Gauhati.
The Municipal Vaccinator prepares from the gaonburas' registers, a list of children
born during the previous year, in each ward of the town. He then vaccinates all
who are available, and the Civil Surgeon afterwards inspects the result of his work,
ward by ward. The few people who try to avoid vaccination are thereby brought to
his notice, and he is able to induce them to accept it without the issue of a formal
notice.