37
Proposal to make a fund
for vaccination in Native
States.
reality nothing is done. No such troubles occur in Mahee Kanta, where the difficulty in
carrying on good and continuous vaccination arises more from the nature of the province
than from any other cause. To show this best I would quote here the first para. of my
letter No. 411, dated 18th February last, addressed to the Political Agent, on the subject.
"The division of Mahee Kanta into territories owned by the Edur Durbar, and by the
several Thakoors has led to the entertainment of separate vaccinators. There are at
present five vaccinators employed in the whole of Mahee Kanta, three of whom are paid
from subscriptions by the Thakoors, and two by the Edur Durbar. Vaccinators paid
by the Thakoors have allotted to them certain talookas belonging to the Thakoors, and
the Edur country is divided between two vaccinators. But the territory of each Chief
is more or less scattered, and with Government and Guicowaree territories there is such
an interlacement of the whole that between one part of a Chief's Talooka and another
part, portions more or less in extent of other Chiefs' territories intervene. The vac-
cinators are only allotted talookas of certain Chiefs, so they have frequently to skip
over from one part to another; as a consequence, vaccination, far from being con-
tinuous and arm-to-arm, is carried on in a broken manner. It often happens also that
certain portions, on account of difficulty of access, are entirely forgotten." To remedy
these difficulties, a proposition for the re-organisation of the vaccination establishments
of these two States has been lately submitted by me to the Political Officers, the main
feature of which is the formation of a common vaccination fund for each of these States.
The Princes and Thakoors who now pay for separate vaccinators are to contribute a
lump sum annually to the Political Agency, the same to be
not much above the present expenditure incurred by the said
Chiefs and Thakoors. Upon the formation of such a fund
the vaccinators and peons would receive their pay directly
and regularly from the Political Officers, and there would be a certainty of all fines &c.
being inflicted. The vaccinators who now receive nearly equal pay will also be graded
after the model of the Government establishment, and they would be members of one
common service, instead of as at present being servants of certain Chiefs only ; thus any
one might be transferred to another place, or could be lowered in grade for misconduct:
good service could be rewarded by promotion without changing the district of the vacci-
nator, and in Mahee Kanta consecutive portions as far as the nature of the territory will
permit, would be allotted to the several vaccinators. Whether a particular allotment
comprises one or several Chiefs' territories would be immaterial ; the vaccinator would
have to vaccinate all villages that came within its limits. This would lead to more
thorough vaccination than at present, and as fewer breaks in lymph would occur the
work performed would be more satisfactory. Taking this opportunity of a new orga-
nisation of the Vaccine establishment of these territories, I have made a proposition for
the entertainment of a Native Superintendent of Vaccination for each, as also for the
providing of some money allowance to parents of children carried from their own to
other villages for vaccination purposes. The Superintendent General of Vaccination has
approved of my proposals, and I await with anxiety to know how these proposals will
ultimately be disposed of.