( 4 )
The Chief Commissioner insists that his orders on this subject shall be attended to, and a
special explanation will be called for from the Deputy-Commissioner of Kámrúp and the
Civil Surgeon of Gauháti. No change in the number of ex-inoculators in any district
must be made without the previous sanction of the Sanitary Commissioner, and the
work done by the men employed must be so far tested as to afford some guarantee
that their operations are really protective, and are not, as here in Kámrúp, calculated
by their ineffectiveness to discredit vaccination in the eyes of the people. The number of
ex-inoculators in the other districts is not large enough to call for special comment.
Vaccination on tea-gardens.
11. The returns of vaccination work performed among tea-garden coolies, whether
by Government operators or by the medical officers employ-
ed on the gardens, appear as follows- for 1882-83 and
1883-84:—
1882-83
1883-84
Number of primary operations
by Government agency.
Total
number.
2,735
4,814
Number
successful.
2,445
3,738
Percent-
age.
89.0
77.6
Number of primary operations
by garden agency.
Total
number.
2,243
10,336
Number
successful.
1,746
5,300
Percent-
age.
77.7
51.0
It is believed that the great increase in the number of operations on tea-gardens by
unofficial agency is mainly due to the effect of Section 131 of the Chief Commissioner's
Rules under Act I. of 1882, which runs as follows :—
Vaccination.
" All children born on the estate should be vaccinated within a year of their birth, as well as all
imported labourers and their dependents who have not been previous-
ly vaccinated or protected in any other way. For this purpose, the
Medical Officer shall be entitled to receive on indent a supply of lymph from the Civil Surgeon at the
commencement of each vaccination season, or as soon after as possible."
It has further been explained that this rule need not be enforced where the labourers on
a garden object to and oppose vaccination, but judicious advice and management will proba-
bly overcome this opposition. In all probability the number of vaccinations has been much
larger than appears on the record; for of the 10,336 cases in the table above, 9,047
were performed in the two districts of Cachar and Sylhet, and it may be presumed
that the vast majority of tea-garden vaccinations in the Assam Valley districts were
not reported. District officers have been directed to be more strict in calling for the
prescribed returns in future. The low proportion of successful operations achieved
by garden operators is remarkable, and has not been fully explained. The proportion
is low also in the work of Government operators in tea-gardens (77.6 per cent.),
though much higher than that attained by private operators. In the case of the
latter, the failure seems to be partly due to the attempt to vaccinate adults, who
are always less likely to "take" than children ; among children 6,694 were vaccinated
by private operators, and 71 per cent. of the cases were successful: among adults the
percentage of success was only 15. The percentage of successful operations is particu-
larly low in Cachar (49.5 per cent.): this is attributed to the bad lymph used at
starting.
Cost of the department.
12. The cost of vaccination work during 1883-84, exclusive of the pay of Civil
Surgeons and of the Sanitary Commissioner (a part of which
ought to be debited to vaccination, if the calculation is to be
theoretically perfect), compares as follows with the cost in 1882-83 :—
Government vaccinators ......
Local Fund „ ......
municipal „ ......
Total ..................
1882-83.
Pay.
Rs.
3,067
390
348
3,805
Travelling
allowance.
Rs.
243
...
...
243
Total.
Rs.
3,310
390
348
4,048
1883-84.
Pay.
Rs.
4,139
1,117
482
5,738
Travelling
allowance.
Rs.
1,373
103
...
1,476
Total.
Rs.
5,512
1,220
482
7,214
The entire sum allotted to vaccination in the provincial budget of 1883-84 was
Rs. 4,500; but this estimate was framed in December 1882, and in all probability when
the working season of 1883 came on larger establishments were entertained. Thus, it
was only on the 30th October 1883 that an additional Superintendent and 5 additional