7
This was thought too much, and the Deputy Surgeon-General suggested
that the shed should be erected by the lunatics. The materials were, therefore,
purchased at a cost of Rs. 59-5-9, and the work commenced; and when it
was finished the shed was valued by the Executive Engineer at Rs. 149.
A contingent bill for Rs. 59-5-9 was presented to the Accountant General,
who refused its payment on the plea that such work should be done by the
Public Works Department, although a large sum for contingencies of this sort
was entered in the asylum budget. The bill was presented to the Public
Works Department, but has not yet been paid, and the amount stands debited
to the workshop account in Table No. 21. This little piece of work shows
what obstacles exist to carrying on, successfully, systematic and remunera-
tive labour, and the need of special rules being made for an institution of
this kind.
Finance, or cost of care
and maintenance of lu-
natics.
17. The detailed statement of expenditure and Table No. 14 will show the
total cost of care and maintenance of the three dif-
ferent classes into which the patients have been
divided, in respect to the mode and manner of dieting.
Table No. 20 exhibits the source and legal authority
for collecting the payments from paying and partial-paying patients. The
amount of actual cash received is Rs. 3,587-9-5 for 1873-74 compared with
Rs. 2,896-13-0 in 1872-73. The stoppages from soldiers and others should
be Rs. 916 for 1873-74, compared with Rs. 304-12-0 for 1872-73.
Great care and attention have been bestowed on the management of the
dieting of the patients, also in the use of the bedding and clothing, and, what
is called in hospital nomenclature, petty supplies, which, indeed, form by far
one of the largest items of outlay in the maintenance of the institution.
It is in the two items of diet and petty supplies that the expenditure for the
year has been most reduced, so as to show a saving in them of Rs. 8,829-10-7
as compared with 1872-73. There is a slight decrease also in the bedding and
clothing. The reduction in the cost of diet is Rs. 7,773-13-0, and in petty
supplies Rs. 1,055-13-7. In beer and wine and articles obtained from the
market a small excess is shown over 1872-73 of Rs. 240-15-1.
Increase of pay to certain of the establishment, according to Government
Resolution No. 8636, of 24th January 1873, and increased number of extra
servants, owing to more European soldiers being received and to added
numbers of native insanes, have raised the establishment charges by
Rs. 1,100-11-7.
It is necessary to bear in mind, while examining the Financial Statement
No. 14, that the calculations are based upon the daily average number of diets
and not on the medical statistics of the asylum. There is not much differ-
ence in the totals, but still there is a difference, and it is caused in this man-
ner : one, two, or more patients are admitted on the afternoon, say, of Monday,
and are entered in the medical register on that day; but such patients do not
come on the diet roll until Wednesday. This mode of estimating the aver-
age cost per head appears to me to be more satisfactory, and it is also to some
extent rendered necessary on account of the variety of races and castes under
care and treatment. Many of the mixed races are quite Europeanized in
regard to social and personal habits of life, and it is not unfrequently found
expedient, as well as beneficial to their health, to indulge them with Euro-
pean society and diet occasionally. If the Europeans and Eurasians were