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employs; while, as most of its servants have been in the asylum for years, their wages
have been increased with length of service. Its keepers are trained men of an exceptionally
good type, and it is absolutely necessary to pay them fairly to retain their services. So well
have they done their work that there has not been a single case of violence during the last
two years. At Dacca there have been constant complaints of the inefficiency of the keepers
and the insufficiency of the pay given. Cases of violence are not uncommon, and the same
may be said of Hazareebagh. These considerations go far to account for the high average at
Dullunda. Deducting the excess in the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent's pay
over the similar items elsewhere, reduces the cost, Rs. 30 per patient, and the difference
in wages reduces it Rs. 11 more. There are several servants rendered necessary by con-
ditions not apparently obtaining in other asylums—a gasman, four door-keepers, and two
bakers. These cost Rs. 3-6 per patient. Allowing for all these items, the net cost is
reduced to about Rs. 47-12 per patient in 1878, and it is only on this figure that comparison
with the other asylums (excluding Cuttack) is possible. In the absence of the necessary
local knowledge as to the details of plan, buildings, office work, and watch-and-ward, the
Committee cannot explain the comparatively small variations which now remain; but they
probably chiefly result from variations in numbers not met by corresponding reduction of
establishment. A certain establishment is necessary, entirely independent of average
strength. Extra keepers must be engaged as numbers rise, but a great proportion of the
establishment is fixed, and would remain the same whether the numbers were halved or
doubled. In all the asylums there has been a considerable fall in numbers within the
last few years, but this is especially the case in Dullunda. In 1873 the daily average
strength was 369; last year it was 204. At Dacca in 1873 it was 244; last year 196. The
cost per patient at Dullunda was Rs. 52 in 1873 and Rs. 92 in 1878 in spite of large
reductions in the subordinate establishment. At Dacca the figures are Rs. 35 and Rs. 46.
The subordinate establishment at both asylums has been reduced ; but the fall in numbers
has more than kept pace with the reductions; the fixed establishment has remained the
same, and the average cost per patient has risen greatly, entirely apart from any asylum
control. This example is sufficient to show the very deceptive nature of averages per patient.
The point is, however, even more conspicuously illustrated in the case of Cuttack.
Reference to Table II will show that in its establishment and its rates of pay it compares
most favourably with other asylums. Its Superintendent receives only Rs. 150 instead
of Rs. 250, as at the other provincial asylums, or Rs. 609 at Dullunda. It has a native
overseer on Rs. 25 in place of a European at Rs. 100 or Rs. 250. Its writer receives only
Rs. 10, against Rs. 34 to Rs.60, and its native doctor Rs. 10 instead of Rs. 25 or Rs. 30;
yet it has always occupied the second or third place in the order of comparative costliness.
The combined pay of the Superintendent and Overseer is less than half what it is at
Patna, yet the cost per patient is more than double. The reason is that Cuttack has
only about a quarter of the number of patients under treatment at Patna.
5. The general conclusion come to by the Committee is that no just com-
parison of the relative cost for establishment is possible, and that the establish-
ment in all asylums is, so far as they can judge, moderate. The Lieutanant-
Governor sees no reason to dissent from this conclusion ; but he desires that
the Surgeon-General will, as opportunity for inspection offers, look closely into
the details of the subordinate establishments, and suggest such modifications
as may seem warranted. The Inspector-General of Jails, who is ex-officio a
visitor of all asylums, might also be requested to note specially on this question
when he makes his periodical visits.
6. The question of diet was one to which the Committee were asked to
give special attention, but they have found so much variation in the mode of
accounting for supplies in the different asylums that any just comparison is
impossible. The figures as taken out of the reports are these—
Dullunda ... ... ...
Dacca ... ... ...
Patna ... ... ...
Cuttack ... ... ...
Berhampore ... ... ...
Hazareebagh ... ... ...
1877.
Cost per patient.
Rs.
57
56
45
37
36
35
A.
13
10
14
6
11
0
P.
9
9
8
9
6
8
1878.
Cost per patient.
Rs.
55
65
54
35
44
39
A.
12
1
12
10
6
13
P.
7
3
2
1
0
3
Speaking broadly, the differences are mainly accounted for by local differences
of price; but there seems to be also great diversity of practice in the way of
accounting for garden produce raised by the asylums, labor in husking rice
and grain by the lunatics, and the like. There is also a want of uniformity
in the diet-scales both as regards character and quantity. The Superintendents
are generally opposed to any attempt to lay down a compulsorily uniform
scale, on the ground that the price of dietary articles and the usual diet of the