4
Causes of insanity.—The ætiological
factors and associated conditions in the
patients admitted are shown in State-
ment VII. The Superintendents of the
Mental Hospitals complain that very
little attention is paid by the various
local agents sending patients to Men-
tal Hospitals to the necessity of furnish-
ing as much information as possible
regarding the causation of the mental
disease, the habits and other associated
conditions of these patients. Such in-
formation would help greatly in diagno-
sis and treatment.
Finance.—Expenditure on account of
patients under observation which previ-
ously was excluded from Statement VIII,
except in respect of patients admitted
into the Bhowanipore Observation Ward,
has been included in that statement since
the beginning of the triennial period
under review.
Income.—The average annual receipts
of the Mental Hospitals during the
period under
report amounted
to
Rs. 3,24,061
as compared
with
Rs. 2,98,483 during the previous trien-
nium. The increase of Rs. 25,578 was
due to a large Government grant for the
construction of the Mental Observation
Ward, Bhowanipore.
The average receipts from paying
patients' fees during the triennium
amounted to Rs. 6,075 as compared with
Rs. 9,413 in 1918-20. The fall was due
to the closure of the European Lunatic
Asylum at Bhowanipore during the pre-
vious triennium. The Dacca Mental
Hospital had no paying patients during
the triennium under review. The credit
in the shape of articles received from the
manufacturing departments of Mental
Hospitals for use in their own institu-
tions gradually diminished, the amount
being Rs. 15,612 in 1921, Rs. 10,125 in
1922 and Rs. 8,994 in 1923.
Expenditure.—The gross expendi-
ture of the Mental Hospitals amounted
to Rs. 3,40,242 in 1921, Rs. 3,02,145 in
1922 and Rs. 3,11,389 in 1923 or an
annual average of Rs. 3,17,925 as com-
pared with an annual average expendi-
ture of Rs. 2,89,071 during the preceding
three years. The annual average cost per
head of mental patients calculated on the
daily average strength was Rs. 355-7-0 in
1921, Rs. 317-3-7 in 1922 and Rs. 327-3-9
in 1923, the mean for the triennium
being Rs. 3334-9 as against Rs. 289-8-0
for the previous triennium. Excluding
building charges the average cost per
head during the triennium worked out to
Rs. 248-15-6 as compared with Rs. 217-
14-8 in 1918-20. The expenditure under
the head " Superintendence " fell from
Rs. 31,475 in 1921 to Rs. 22,572 in 1922
owing to the fact that the officiating
Superintendent's pay for 1922 at the
Berhampore Mental Hospital was not
drawn during the year. In 1923 the
expenditure under this head amounted to
Rs. 26,267. The expenditure under the
head " Establishment"
rose from
Rs. 45,023 in 1921 to Rs. 50,624 in 1922
and to Rs. 53,702 in 1923. The revision
of the pay of the ministerial officers and
menials, Sub-Assistant Surgeons and
Keepers, was mainly responsible for the
increase. The charges on account of
works done by the Public Works Depart-
ment amounted to Rs. 87,373 in 1921,
Rs. 70,192 in 1922 and Rs. 83,756 in
1923. The construction of the Bhowani-
pore Observation Ward was responsible
for the large expenditure under this
head, the cost on this account alone hav-
ing been Rs. 70,104 in 1921, Rs. 61,529
in 1922 and Rs. 61,885 in 1923. The
cost of diet amounted to Rs. 1,26,444 in
1921, Rs. 1,12,532 in
1922 and
Rs. 1,01, 948 in 1923. The expenditure
under this head remained almost the
same in the Dacca Mental Hospital dur-
ing the three years under review: there
was, however, a steady decrease in the
Berhampore Mental Hospital, the total
expenditure under in this institution
dieting being Rs. 96,775 in 1921,
Rs. 81,401 in 1922 and Rs. 71,517 in
1923.
Manufactures.—The industries on
which the inmates of the Berhampore
Mental Hospital were generally em-
ployed, were weaving, masonry, car-
pentry tailoring, gardening and the
making of jute-slings and joss-sticks.
At Dacca the inmates were employed
chiefly on cane and bamboo work.
Hardworking and well behaved patients
were granted monthly stipends varying
from Rs. 2 to two annas, extra diet or
cigarettes.
The total profit from manufactures
amounted to Rs. 14,124 in 1921, Rs.
9,816 in 1922 and Rs. 8,438 in 1923. The
dairy and bakery of the Berhampore Hos-
pital were closed in 1923 as they were
both found to be unprofitable. For the
same reason the oil and weaving indus-
tries at Dacca were abandoned.
Dietary.—The diet was liberal and
varied. It was regularly inspected by the
Superintendent or the Deputy Superin-
tendent before issue.
Three scales