No. 79-B/IX.
Central Provinces Administration
MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
Nagpur, the 7th May 1918.
READ—
The Triennial Report and statements of the Lunatic Asylum in the Central Provinces
for the years 1915, 1916 and 1917.
RESOLUTION.
During the course of the triennium the need for somewhat extensive structural
alterations and additions to the Lunatic Asylum was so pressingly felt that, despite
the restrictions on expenditure on account of the war, it was found necessary to
carry out works at a cost of Rs. 75,000 for providing extra and improved
accommodation for the inmates. The principal of these were the construction of
an extra ward for males in order to prevent overcrowding, of a ward for infectious
cases and of wards for the observation and treatment of cases of tuberculosis,
which had become seriously prevalent in the asylum.
2. At the end of the triennium sanction was given to a considerable increase
in the staff of the asylum, which was found to be insufficient both for the
proper watch and ward of the inmates and for bestowing on them the care and
attention they need. In only one respect has it not been possible fully to meet the
requirements of the asylum. The services of a whole-time alienist, to which
reference has been made by this Administration in previous resolutions, have
still to be secured. The proposal for such an appointment has been favourably
considered by the Government of India ; but it is impossible to obtain a specialist
for the purpose at the present time.
3. Close attention was paid to the health and general well-being of the
inmates; and it is satisfactory to find that the mortality, which in 1910 stood as
high as 265 per mille, has fallen to 123, 110, and 101 per mille, respectively, in
the three years of the period under review. The statistics of the Nagpur Asylum
compare favourably in this respect with those of other institutions of the kind in
India. That the mortality was higher than in the preceding triennium is to be
attributed mainly to the prevalence of tuberculosis. This disease, which was
responsible for only six deaths during the twelve years from 1900 to 1911, and for the
same number during the period 1912 to 1914, claimed as many as forty-nine victims
during the period under review. Of these cases fourteen were already infected at
the time of their admission to the asylum. As already indicated adequate measures
have been taken to keep the disease in check. Precautions have been taken for
the early diagnosis of such cases and for their isolation and special treatment ;
and it is hoped that a permanent improvement will result. At the close of the
triennium there were only two consumptives in the asylum.
4. Until quite recently the number of admissions showed a steady tendency
to rise. So far as this could be taken to indicate public confidence in the asylum
it was matter for congratulation. But a tendency on the part of confining officers
to admit, merely in a spirit of compassion, as many lunatics as the asylum could
accommodate, came to the notice of the Chief Commissioner ; and, in the beginning
of 1917 instructions were issued impressing on those concerned that it was not
the duty of the State to provide accommodation for the assumed lunatic popula-
tion in general. The slight fall in the number of admissions during the triennium