10
LUNATIC ASYLUMS IN BENGAL.
Rs. 121-0-10 at Dullunda, as shown below by a return which contrasts
the years 1877 and 1878 :—
ASYLUMS.
Dullunda
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Dacca
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Patna
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Cuttack
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Moydapore
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Berhampore
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Hazaribagh
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Total
...
Average cost per patient, deducting money
realized as board of patient and profit of
manufactures.
1877.
Rs.
111
86
89
107
85
74
76
89
A.
10
13
4
3
15
15
6
1
P.
10
1
11
1
7
11
7
5
1878.
Rs.
121
98
95
96
78
85
95
A.
0
6
3
1
8
8
14
P.
10
10
8
7
5
1
5
It thus appears that the average cost per patient has increased during
the past year in Dullunda, Dacca, Patna, and Hazaribagh lunatic asylums,
and diminished in Berhampore and Cuttack. The following table indicates how
this increased expenditure has come about by comparing the average cost on
account of the different items of establishment, diet, &c., in the two years :—
ASYLUMS.
Dullunda ...
Dacca ...
Patna ...
Cuttack ...
Moydapore ...
Berhampore ...
Hazaribagh ...
Total ...
AVERAGE COST OF EACH PATIENT ON ACCOUNT OF
Establishment.
1877.
Rs.
59
43
40
71
44
43
37
46
A.
13
2
4
4
9
5
9
0
P.
10
11
5
3
6
4
1
3
1878.
Rs.
56
45
42
67
37
41
45
A.
11
13
11
11
0
9
14
P.
8
1
4
3
8
5
3
Diet.
1877.
Rs.
57
56
45
37
37
36
35
45
A.
13
10
14
6
11
11
0
14
P.
9
9
8
9
8
6
8
11
1878.
Rs.
55
65
54
35
44
39
51
A.
12
1
12
10
6
13
2
P.
7
3
2
1
0
3
9
Bazar medicines.
1877.
Rs.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
A.
1
1
4
2
0
0
6
2
P.
8
11
4
8
2
5
2
11
1878.
Rs.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
A.
0
1
2
0
0
5
2
P.
11
5
4
11
11
1
1
Contingencies.
1877.
Rs.
14
2
6
3
1
2
3
5
A.
5
15
1
8
12
4
4
10
P.
11
7
1
5
4
6
11
11
1878.
Rs.
20
3
8
3
1
2
7
A
12
10
0
2
12
10
4
P.
7
1
11
1
9
3
2
Clothing.
1877.
Rs.
2
1
7
2
1
2
4
3
A.
15
6
14
11
14
10
0
12
P.
0
8
10
8
5
8
8
1
1878.
Rs.
4
4
6
2
3
5
4
A.
0
7
6
10
5
0
9
P.
9
1
11
7
0
10
3
29. The increased expenditure on account of diet is attributed by the
Superintendents to the dearness of provisions. Thus Mr. Shircore says that at
Berhampore rice, which in ordinary years was obtainable at less than Rs. 2 per
maund, had to be purchased in 1878 at an average annual cost of Rs. 3-5-5, the
highest price having been Rs. 3-13 and lowest Rs. 2-10-6. He further
states that wheat and dâls were sold at more than double the prices of
ordinary years. Dr. Crombie says that the expenditure was larger in 1878
than in any previous year since the present scale was fixed, and this he
attributes to the “ almost famine price of provisions ruling in the local market.”
In the same way Drs. Payne, Bird, Stewart, and Wood dwell on the high
prices of the provisions supplied to the inmates of their asylums in 1878.
30. Contingencies in Dullunda were again high, the rate per inmate having
been Rs. 20-12-7 for an average daily strength of 204, against Rs. 14-5-11 for
an average daily strength of 213 in 1877. The reason of the increase will be
found fully explained in Dr. Payne's report, to which I must refer. The reduc-
tion of average cost per patient in the Berhampore Asylum under the head of
Establishment indicates the economy of having larger asylums, for in this
instance the reduction of Rs. 6-4-8 per head was owing to the inmates of
Moydapore having been sent to Berhampore, and the staff of the latter asylum
not requiring any augmentation in order to take charge of the transferred
lunatics.
31. According to the orders of Government a uniform diet scale is not
enforced in the asylums of Bengal, as it was thought that in different parts of
the country the people were used to food which varied in kind considerably. I