( 3 )
Paragraphs 25 to 27 and 55 and 56.
6. Mr. Mackworth Young regrets to find that the reports in respect to
watch and ward are still unsatisfactory. An explan-
ation should be furnished showing how it was that
the criminal lunatic who escaped from the Lahore Asylum during the night was not
missed until the early morning. The escape of three criminal lunatics from the
Delhi Asylum can only be characterised as extremely unsatisfactory, and the
Lieutenant-Governor will be glad to have detailed reports as to the manner in
which these escapes were effected. It is to be feared that neither of the two
Asylums is sufficiently secure to provide against the escape of that more astute
type»of lunatic to which criminals, classed as insane by the Courts, not infrequently
belong. His Honor observes that it is stated that the warders concerned were
severely punished. He would be glad to know to what extent each one was
responsible, and the punishment inflicted in each case.
Paragraphs 46 to 49 and 52.
*No. 833 C., dated 23rd April 1895.
No. 123 S., dated 6th June 1896.
7. In both Asylums there was considerable increase of expenditure per
lunatic, which the Lieutenant-Governor considers
is satisfactorily accounted for by the unusual and
abnormal condition of things that necessitated it. The scarcity rates prevailing
caused a large increase on account of diet charges in both Asylums, and in the Lahore
Institution a charge for clothing and blankets purchased in 1895 had to be adjusted
in 1896. A special expenditure sanctioned in the Government letter No. 289,
dated 4th June 1896, for the purchase of stoves for the comfort of old and weak
patients was also incurred. In the case of the Delhi Asylum it is stated that an
excess of Rs. 242-4-1 in establishment charges over the figure for the year 1895 is
due to " increase of establishment." This remark is not understood, as the letters
from the Civil Secretariat noted on the margin*
sanctioned revisions of establishment which resulted
in a decrease of Rs. 4 per mensem in establishment charges. A comparison of
Statement No. X in the Report for the year 1896, with the similar statement in
the Report for 1895, will show that effect was apparently given to this reluction,
as the total cost for establishment for the year 1896 is shown as Rs. 310
per mensem against Rs. 314 in the previous year. It is also not understood
why a " prisoner cook" on Rs. 5 per mensem who was shown in the
Proposition Statements attached to the correspondence connected with the letters
quoted above has not been shown in Statement X of the Report. The Inspector-
General is requested to be so good as to obtain and submit the necessary
explanations. One of the reasons for the revision of establishment was to increase
the pay of the warder establishment in view to inducing a better class of men to
seek service as warders. It is stated in the Report that " the better rates of pay
have enabled the Superintendent to get a somewhat better class of men," but the
matter of the escapes referred to above seems to corroborate the further remark
in the Report that " there is much room for improvement." It may be true that
until the asylum warders are put on the same footing as jail warders it will be
difficult or impossible to get good men to serve ; but the matter, His Honor
observes, is hardly one for consideration in connection with an Annual Report.
It is a matter for separate discussion should this be found desirable.
Paragraphs 50 and 51.
8. The Lieutenant-Governor is very glad to observe that the question of
occupying the lunatics of both Asylums in
employment of a healthy kind continues to engage
attention and with apparently satisfactory results on the whole. It is especially
pleasing to note that the garden at Delhi is in a very prosperous condition. There
may be difficulties in making labour of the kind remunerative at Lahore, but
looking at the peculiar suitability of work of the kind as recreative employment for
the insane, and considering that the great object is not so much profit as to find
really healthy employment, His Honor trusts with reference to the remarks in
paragraph 7 of the review on the Report for the year 1895 that the Superintendent
of the Lahore Asylum will see that the inmates are put to gardening work as
much as possible.