( 7 )
The cost of clothing and bedding was Rs. 5,065-5-3 in 1906,
Rs. 6,660-15-3 in 1907 and Rs. 5,729-5-3 in 1908, the cost per head being
Rs. 6 2-0, Rs. 7-13-5 and Rs. 6-11-8 respectively.
Public works charges amounted to Rs. 6,931-4-7 in 1906, Rs. 18,637-9-8
in 1907 and Rs. 11,384-14-5 in 1908. The larger expenditure in 1907 was
mainly due to quadrennial repairs at Patna and to improvements in buildings
at Berhampore.
Medicines cost Rs. 2,333-13-7 in 1906, Rs. 1,832-6-5 in 1907 and
Rs. 1,470-4-5 in 1908. There was an increase of Rs. 987-13-3 in 1906 which was
chiefly due to greater daily average sick at Berhampore. The same cause
also existed in 1908, but the cost in this asylum was less by Rs. 314-3-1 in that
year because the remaining stock of 1907 and the annual supplies obtained in
1908 were found sufficient.
Receipts from paying patients amounted to Rs. 14,040-0-5 in 1906,
Rs. 14,958-15-8 in 1907 and Rs. 13,692-10-10 in 1908. Berhampore realised
Rs. 637-9-3 more than in 1907 owing to the admission of a larger number of
patients of this class, viz., 9 against 4 in 1907. In this connection it should
be mentioned that section 17B. of Act XXXVI of 1858 (Indian Lunatic
Asylums Act) has lately been amended. This will facilitate the admission
of paying patients from Calcutta to the Berhampore Asylum.
Statement IX.
24. Establishment.—There was no change in the establishment at Patna
in 1908. At Bhowanipur the old matron, whose
pay was Rs. 160 per mensem, retired in 1908, her
successor receiving pay at the rate of Rs. 120 per mensem. The pay of the
clerk was increased by Rs. 5 per mensem. The pay of the permanent
Superintendent at Berhampore is Rs. 1,050 per mensem, but during his absence
on leave in 1908 his locum tenens, Captain L. Cook, I.M.S., drew pay at the rate
of Rs. 700 per mensem. A large number of old and feeble female patients in
this Asylum require constantly looking after. For them 2 female hospital
attendants were sanctioned by Government on Rs. 7 each per month. All the
members of the staff attached to the Asylums are generally reported to have
worked well. The services of Military Assistant Surgeon H. V. Mann, the
Deputy Superintendent at Berhampore, are prominently brought to notice by
the Superintendent. The varied requirements of this large and combined
Asylum in the Province, where so many lunatics are concentrated involves much
personal attention and anxiety on the part of the Superintendents.
Statement X.
25. Gives the receipts and expenditure on account of manufactures in the
Asylums. Occupation is essential in the treatment
of the insane, and as the principal function of the
manufacturing department is to provide such occupation much greater interest
was taken in the matter at Berhampore and Patna. Various occupations,
suitable and congenial, were judiciously selected by the Superintendents con-
cerned according to the nature of the cases they had to deal with. A good
many of the lunatics are, however, unfit for work. Hard working and well-
behaved lunatics were granted special indulgences and rewards to encourage
them to greater activity, and to induce idlers to work. Altogether 60 per
cent. of the lunitics were employed on manufactures in 1906, 58 in 1907 and
55 in 1908. From industries there was a decrease in profits at Berhampore of
Rs. 782-12-3 in 1907 due to higher rates paid for raw materials and to reduc-
tion in the manufacture of mustard oil, as I consider oil pressing too mono-
tonous a form of labour and unsuitable for lunatics; but in 1908 there was
an increased gain of Rs. 4,239-0-6 by supplying larger quantities of manufac-
tured goods to the Asylum and by realising larger amounts from the sale of
milk, vegetables and other articles of asylum make to the public. At Patna the
profits were more by Rs. 304-7-10 in 1908, which would have been still greater
had not the value of plant and machinery in store, at the end of the year,
decreased owing to the sale of an old machine and other unserviceable stores.
The total profits amounted to Rs. 3,534-10-0 in 1906, Rs. 2,530-9-6 in 1907 and
Rs. 7,074-1-10 in 1908. The dairy at Berhampore was very successful. It
afforded congenial work to the lunatics, supplied a large quantity of fresh milk
for the patients, for which the asylum is not dependent on outside purveyors,
while it realised a large amount, viz., Rs. 884-5-6, from sale of surplus milk and
butter to the public. It yielded a net profit of Rs. 212-13-6 in 1908, not-
withstanding the higher rates paid for fodder.
26. General remarks.— The principal feature of the working of the
Lunatic Asylums in this Province during the triennium under review is the