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The number of inmates in the Cuttack asylum being very low, the charges on
account of establishment and superintendence swelled the average cost per head.
The high average at Dullanda was due partly to the payment of a larger amount
on account of rates and taxes than at Dacca, Patna, and Berhampore, and partly
to wages and cost of provisions, &c., being higher in Calcutta than in the other
towns in which the asylums are situated. The Lieutenant-Governor agrees
with the Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals that the asylums are carefully
and economically managed, and that the differences in the actual cost were due
to local conditions and to accidental causes which vary from year to year.
13. The number of paying patients rose from 31 in 1892 to 34 during
the year under review; but the receipts from this source fell off at all the
asylums except Dullanda. The Lieutenant-Governor desires to invite the
special attention of all officers concerned to Government circular No. 42 of
the 3rd December 1891, and to impress upon them the necessity of following
strictly in future the instructions therein contained. The Superintendent
of the Native Lunatic Asylum, Calcutta, has suggested that the cost of pauper
lunatics should be charged to the Municipality from which they are sent.
This question was considered in 1892, and it was then decided that to give
effect to this suggestion legislation would be necessary, which the Government
was not prepared to undertake. The Lieutenant-Governor still adheres to this
view.
14. The experiment of establishing diary farms at lunatic asylums was
further continued during the year. As a commercial enterprise it has not
generally proved successful, but since the plan ensures a plentiful supply of
good milk to the inmates, the Lieutenant-Governor agrees that it may have a
further trial so long as it pays its way.
15. The total population of the European asylum at Bhowanipur during
the year was 64, against 61 in 1892. Of this number, 35 were under detention
on the 1st January 1893, and 29, of whom two were criminal lunatics, were
subsequently admitted. During the year 9 persons were discharged cured, 2
were deported to Europe under the Merchant Shipping Act, 6 were transferred
to the care of friends, 1 was despatched to Europe as still insane, 1 was
discharged, and 4 died, leaving 41 under confinement at the close of the
year. There was no want of accommodation in the male ward, but, notwith-
standing the additional accommodation provided in 1891, there was a certain
amount of overcrowding among the females, whose number has been steadily
increasing for the last five years. The question of still further adding to the
accommodation for female lunatics has lately been under the consideration of
Government, but owing to the financial exigencies of the province, the Lieute-
nant-Governor has been compelled to defer sanction to the proposals till a more
favourable time arrives. The general health of the inmates of the asylum was
good, and there were no injuries, accidents or escapes. The total expenditure
for the year was Rs. 21,805, against Rs. 22,831 in 1892.
16. The Report of the Committee appointed in 1892 to undertake the
revision of the rules for the control and management of lunatic asylums in
Bengal, referred to in paragraph 13 of the Resolution on the Report for 1892,
has been received since the close of the year, and is now under consideration.
17. The opinions of the Superintendents of Asylums and of the Inspector-
General of Civil Hospitals on the rules drawn up by the Committee appointed in
1891 to consider the question of guarding criminal lunatics in asylums were
received and considered during the year. It appeared that these rules were
already in force at Dullanda and Patna, that the rules in force at Berham-
pore were necessitated by the peculiar arrangements of the buildings, that at
Dacca the system peculiar to that asylum and which was approved by the
Committee was adopted, and that this system was also in force at Cuttack. The
Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals recommended that things should be left
as they were, and the Lieutenant-Governor agreed to the proposal. To give
effect, however, to the proposal of the Committee to provide amusements for
the lunatics, the Superintendent of each Asylum was authorized to make such
arrangements as he thought fit, and to incur expenditure up to a limit of Rs. 10
per mensem with the object of carrying out the suggestion.
18. The report is submitted by Dr. Harvey, who assumed charge of the
office of Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals in November 1893. The thanks of
the Lieutenant-Governor are due to him for the report and for the punctuality
with which it has been submitted. His Honour also notices with satisfaction