12
LUNATIC ASYLUMS OF BENGAL.
Public Works Department charges, was Rs. 79,851-12-10 against Rs. 74,504-3-11
in 1888, and the average cost per lunatic was Rs. 82-10-6 against Rs. 79-13-11
in the previous year.
37. Income.—The total amount received from the friends of paying
patients rose from Rs. 1,318-13-4 to Rs. 1,450-1-11. The largest amount was
received at Dullunda and the least at Cuttack, as will be seen from the
following:—
Dullunda ... ... ...
Dacca ... ... ...
Patna ... ... ...
Cuttack ... ... ...
Berhampore ... ... ...
1888.
Rs.
957
90
237
A.
4
5
0
P.
10
9
0
......
34 2 9
1889.
Rs.
1,136
94
213
2
3
A.
11
0
0
8
14
P.
11
0
0
0
0
The large decrease at Berhampore has been explained by the Superin-
tendent to be due to the non-criminals being of a very poor class. Greater
efforts, however, should be made generally in future to obtain larger contribu-
tions under this head.
No. 9247,
„ 1561
„ 1565
„ 8378
„ 8968
dated 30th December 1887.
„ 28th February 1888.
„ 29th
ditto.
„ 11th September 1889.
„ 27th
ditto.
38. STATEMENT X—Establishment.—This gives the numbers and cost of
the establishment at the different asylums—a subject
which has been fully reported upon in the letters of
myself and my predecessor as per margin, and it
seems to me the time has now arrived for carrying
out the reductions therein recommended.
39. The scale of the establishment at Dacca appears to be a most suit-
able one for imitation as far as possible in the other asylums. Making every
allowance for the extent of the grounds and buildings at Dullunda, there can
be no question that its establishment is unnecessarily large, and seeing that it
is under the immediate supervision of an intelligent Deputy Superintend-
ent living on the premises, the work of attending to the wants of the lunatics
might be accomplished with a smaller number of individuals.
40. I am averse to further reduction in the number of warders at any
of the asylums, because I know from experience how much inconvenience and
discomfort is caused to the lunatics when they are guarded and taken care of
by an insufficient staff; but at some of the asylums it is possible to do with
fewer menial servants by utilising the labour of the lunatics.
41. The pay of the keepers at Patna and Berhampore being fixed at a
uniform rate of Rs. 6 a month, with little prospect of promotion to any more
highly paid post, is not sufficient to attract good men for employment in the
asylums of these places, and I would recommend that the scale of salaries
should be revised so as to offer better inducements for them to remain and
work well. The Superintendent, when he has charge of the jail in addition to
his other duties, as at Berhampore, gets over this difficulty to some extent by
promoting deserving keepers to posts in the jail, but while this system is no
doubt advantageous to the jail it results in leaving in the asylum a set of
inexperienced men, who are always trying to find more lucrative employment
elsewhere. If the scale of salaries for keepers at Dacca, where they rise from
Rs. 6 to Rs. 9 a month, were introduced into the asylums at Patna and Berham-
pore, a great improvement would be effected in the class of men offering their
services, and the lunatics would be better cared for. This change might be
carried out without causing much additional expenditure, as the increased cost
of the keepers could be met by reductions in the number of menial servants
and by employing the lunatics more than is done at present.
42. It will be observed that no writer is employed at the Dacca Asylum,
the Overseer Babu Romes Chandra Sil doing all the office work, and it seems
advisable that when vacancies occur by the retirement or otherwise of the present
clerks at Dullunda, Patna and Berhampore, they should not be filled up The
overseers have ample time to do most of the office work, and, if necessary, they
might be assisted by the appointment of a man on Rs. 15 or 20 a month, who
could perform the duties of a copying clerk in the office and of a compounder
in the hospital. This system is adopted in the Central Provinces, where it
works well.