REVENUE
DEPARTMENT.
AGRICULTURE.
CALCUTTA, THE 8TH AUGUST, 1904.
RESOLUTION—No. 3287.
READ—
The Annual Report of the Civil Veterinary Department, Bengal, and of the Bengal
Veterinary College for the year 1903-04.
Read also—
Letter No. 1926A., dated the 9th July, 1904, from the Director of the Department of
Land Records and Agriculture, Bengal, submitting the above report with his
remarks.
The Report was due on the 1st July 1904, but was not received by
Government till the 25th idem.
2. Veterinary Dispensaries and Veterinary Assistants.—During
the year
under review two new dispensaries were opened, one at Noakhali and the other
at Dinajpur; a third dispensary was established at Purnea, but could not be
opened, as it was impossible to secure the services of a qualified Veterinary
Assistant. The total number of dispensaries working at the close of the year
was 22. The growing popularity of these institutions is again illustrated by
the increase in the number of animals which received treatment, particularly
in that of out-patients which was nearly doubled, during the year.
The
most marked feature in the work of the Department was the increase in
the number of cases treated in the villages by itinerant Veterinary
Assistants; 60,151 animals having received treatment from these officers as
against 21,439 in the previous year and 7,346 in the year 1901-02.
The
Lieutenant-Governor is of opinion that in no way can the Department prove
more useful to the people at large than by sending out officers of this
stamp, to be constantly on tour in the interior, to inoculate freely for rinder-
pest and to report upon and deal with outbreaks of all kinds of epizootic
diseases. His Honour regards the development of this work as one of the
most important functions of the Department, and is pleased to observe the
increasing extent to which the benefits of veterinary science are being brought
home to the peasantry. At present, however, the number of qualified men is
insufficient to fill the posts for which they are required; and during the year
under review it was again found to be impossible to meet the demands of several
districts. In order to overcome this difficulty, the Lieutenant-Governor has
recently sanctioned the proposal of the Director of Land Records that, as a
temporary measure, vacancies in the subordinate staff of the Department
should be filled by veterinary graduates from Bombay and Lahore until a
sufficient number of Bengal veterinary graduates are available for employment.
3. Epidemic diseases.—The number of animals (57) admitted into the
Belgachia Contagious Diseases Hospital was the same as in the previous year.
Of these, 43 were found to be suffering from Glanders and had to be destroyed,
and one died of that disease. The Superintendent of the Veterinary Depart-
ment observes, however, that these cases represent a mere fraction of those
actually existing in Calcutta. The introduction of the Glanders and Farcy
Act, XIII of 1899, into that city and its suburbs has long been contemplated
by Government; but, as stated in last year's Resolution, it has hitherto been
deferred, on financial grounds, pending the revision of the provincial settlement.
The necessary provision has, however, now been made in the budget; and it is
hoped that before the end of the current year it will be possible to give effect to
this most salutary and necessary measure.