32
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN BENGAL.
upon which this sum has been expended were (1st) the making of drains to enable the
male wards to be thoroughly washed, Rs. 68-12 ; (2nd) raising a workshed in the male ward,
Rs. 120 ; (3rd) purchasing office furniture, Rs. 168 ; and (4th) for purchasing copper cooking
utensils, Rs. 250. It was found that a considerable monthly charge was incurred for renew-
ing the earthen cooking pots which had boon previously in use, and which were constantly
being broken ; and it was considered wiser to incur a proportionately large expense, once
for all, in providing copper vessels, capable of resisting for some years the wear and tear of
constant use in a lunatic asylum. ”
Employment.
17. Out of a mean population of (males 124.35, females 57.65) 182, no less than
(male 104.38, females 48.35) 152.73 were employed in various kinds of industry, viz.
oil manufacture, weaving of cloth and gunny, spinning cotton and jute, grinding corn,
husking dhall, gardening, cane work, tailoring, assisting the cooks, &c. The sum expended in
the purchase of raw materials for the Manufacture Department, including all other charges,
amounted to Rs. 2,217-3-3, and that realized from the sale of manufactured goods was
Rs. 3,480-6-9, which, with the value of unsold manufactured goods and raw materials in store,
shows a profit of Rs. 1,330-5-3, against Rs. 755-7-7 in 1875. Mr. Shircore remarks that “ this
result is a marked improvement on the operations of the previous year; but the bad effect of the
transfer to this asylum of a large body of useless and hopeless lunatics during 1875, and of the
withdrawal from it of 84 (among whom were the most useful inmates we had) for the new asylum
at Hazareebagh in 1876, will continue to show in this and other respects for some time to come.”
Establishment.
18. The superintendent states that “ Baboo Mohendro Nath Roy, who has acted as
overseer from the first opening of the asylum, and who has recently been confirmed in the post
at the recommendation of the Surgeon-General, continues to work earnestly and efficiently.
He is well suited for the work, and his conduct generally has been most satisfactory.” The
matron, Mrs. Sandys, who was appointed in the early part of the year, is said to have given
every satisfaction in the performance of her duties; and the Native Doctor is considered to
have worked honestly, and to have made himself most useful in the general management of
the insanes. Mr. Shircore states that “ the lower servants of the asylum are an unsatisfac-
tory set, and have given much trouble.”
HAZAREEBAGH
ASYLUM.
Superintendence.
1. Hazareebagh.—This asylum was formally opened for the reception of insane patients
on the 26th May 1876, and from that date to the end of the year was under the superintend-
ence of Surgeon E. A. Birch, the Civil Surgeon of Hazareebagh.
History of the
origin and opening
of the asylum.
2. As a history of the origin and formation of this institution, in all its details, will be
as acceptable as it is necessary, I make no apology for transcribing from Mr. Birch's interest-
ing report the information that he has so fully supplied, and thus there will be a complete
and permanent record, which will always be available in a readily accessible and complete
form whenever any reference on these points may be necessary.
Reasons for
establishing an
asylum at
Hazareebagh.
Committee
appointed to report
on the suitability
of the district jail
buildings.
Transfer of district
jail buildings for
purposes of an
asylum.
Removal of 250
male lunatics from
Berhampore and
Patna.
3. With regard to the reasons for establishing an asylum at Hazareebagh, Mr. Birch
writes as follows:—“ For some years past the Bengal Government had, it appears, been
pressed for want of proper accommodation for the insanes of the province When the
Deputy Surgeon-General, Dinapore Circle, inspected this station in 1875, he learned that
when the central jail was completed the district jail would be abandoned, and, knowing
the difficulty Government was in concerning lunatics, he investigated the site, surroundings,
and buildings of the district jail, with a view to its possible conversion into an insane asylum.
The question having been thus initiated, the Bengal Government addressed letter No. 3567,
of 3rd December 1875, to the Deputy Commissioner, directing him, in conjunction with the
Executive Engineer and Civil Surgeon, to form a committee for the purpose of reporting on
the fitness of the buildings for the proposed transfer, the alterations needed, and the probable
cost. The committee thus appointed agreed that the buildings could be at once made
available, in their then state, for the accommodation of 250 male non-dangerous lunatics, and
that, with additions and alterations proposed, a larger number could be accommodated in future.
These additions and alterations involved an estimated expenditure of Rs. 13,229. Through
its letter No. 486, of the 3rd February 1876, the Bengal Government directed the Inspector-
General of Jails to issue the necessary orders for the transfer, without delay, to the central
jail of the prisoners confined in the district jail, and to make over the buildings, &c., of the
latter to the Civil Surgeon for the purposes of an asylum; and it further ordered the
removal of 250 male lunatics from the Berhampore and Patna Asylums, care being taken
that violent, dangerous, and sickly men, should not be sent; and the superintendent of Dacca
Asylum was directed to select a batch of his lunatics for transfer to the Berhampore Asylum.
The Public Works Department was directed to provide Rs. 5,000 in the budget, 1876-77,
for carrying out the alterations necessary to the conversion; and as it was decided that
accommodation was not to be provided for criminal insanes at Hazareebagh, it was estimated
that a further sum of Rs. 4,000 would probably suffice to complete the arrangements, and
this sum was to be placed at the disposal of the Executive Engineer. The sum of Rs. 5,000
above mentioned was to be chiefly expended upon providing accommodation for females. On
14th February 1876 the buildings were taken over by the Civil Surgeon from the Super-
intendent of Jails. The departmental orders did not reach the Executive Engineer till
March, so that no work was commenced till the end of that month. In February an overseer