NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
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PART III-GENERAL.
SUBJECT III (a)—LEGISLATION.
THE DESIRABILITY OF INTRO-
------ FURTHER LEGISLATIVE MEASURES FOR THE CONTROL
OF ANIMAL DISEASES.
The Chairman said : " The question of the desirability of intro-
ducing further legislation was discussed at the last meeting and I
will read out the resolution that was passed —' That in the opinion
of this meeting some form of legislation is necessary to deal with
cattle diseases, especially as regards segregation and the movements
of cattle, and that such legislation should be introduced, when
possible.'
" The Government of India doubted whether with the existing
staff any practical advantage would be gained by further enhancing
the legal powers of enforcing preventive and curative measures
against cattle diseases and there the matter rests.
" We all agree that more legal powers are required and we have
to admit that unless our professional endeavours can be supplemented
by legal authority we are frequently in an unsatisfactory position.
There are many serious difficulties in the way at present, but the
question is open for discussion. Mr. Edwards has brought up the
matter again and I will ask him to speak."
Mr. Edwards explained that in advising the Government of India
upon legislation to deal with the problem of anthrax control he had
suggested that the time was probably opportune for the enactment
of a Diseases of Animals Act on the general lines of the Glanders
and Farcy Act and analogous in its application to the Diseases of
Animals Act, 1878 and 1894, in operation in Great Britain for the
control of contagious animal disease. By means of a general measure
of this kind, the various prevalent epizootic, or infectious, animal
disease which the Central Government considered from time to time
should be brought under legislative control, could be declared sche-
duled diseases and Local Governments would then be empowered
to frame orders, rules, or regulations for undertaking sanitary
police measures in connection with these diseases, in the same way
as the Ministry of Agriculture at the present time controlled scheduled
diseases in Great Britain by means of Orders. At the present time
the legislative machinery for empowering Government to deal with
disease in animals was very slow in action as was shown in the case
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of tuberculosis, for example, in regard to which it had taken about
four years for Local Governments to draft rules for the prohibition
of importation of tuberculous cattle. A concrete example of an
important disease which would undoubtedly be scheduled under
an act of this kind was anthrax, which he had discussed at length
when that subject was before the conference. It would be a great
advantage to the veterinary services and the administrative autho-
rities to have all central legislation concerning animal diseases
amalgamated in a single comprehensive measure.
Mr. Hewlett agreed with the last speaker, for although with the
machinery available for carrying out sanitary police measures it
would be impossible to achieve very much at present, yet a begin-
ning must be made. He had pointed out in connection with rinder-
pest control that owing to the lack of means of enforcing any method
of control at the present time no headway could be made. He
insisted that the act should be permissive and the rules pro-
vincial.
Mr. Edwards pointed out that it was most important that such
rules should be carefully framed by members of the profession
who were well versed in the special problems of epizootiology and
sanitary police. It might well happen that if Local Governments
were left alone to draft regulations, they might be advised by a
recently recruited officer who did not have much experience in this
class of work and who was not aware of the technicalities of the
relevant problem. He therefore impressed upon the conference
that any regulations drafted should be carefully considered by a
small committee of members who were best acquainted with these
problems, so that the policy might be as far as possible uniform
throughout the country; likewise, the hands of individual
members representing the department in the provinces would be
strengthened in renderng advice to their Governments if this advice
had the support of an authoritative body that represented the
several provinces and had taken pains to collect the best technical
information available on the problem at issue.
In the course of a discussion with Mr. Hewlett, the Chairman
pointed out that the control of epizootic diseases could not be
regarded as a political question, for it was an imminent one in every
part of the country and respected no political barriers.
Mr. Ware pointed out that in Madras this form of legislation
seemed to have been adopted many years ago, in the form of the
Madras Cattle Diseases Act, 1866, and he could not see why. a similar
act had not been introduced elsewhere. Under this act it was
made compulsory on the owner to notify any contagious disease
among cattle.
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After some further discussion it was unanimously resolved:—
Resolution III (a)
That this Conference considers that the time has arrived when a
Diseases of Animals Act should be introduced to give per-
missive powers to Local Governments to frame rules for the
enforcement of sanitary police measures for the control
of contagious disease in animals.
SUBJECT III (b).-STATISTICAL. METHODS OF OBTAINING AND
RECORDING STATISTICAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE INCI-
DENCE OF EPIZOOTIC DISEASE IN INDIA ; SUGGESTIONS FOR
IMPROVEMENT.
The Chairman said: " I suggested the subject now before us
myself as I have felt for many years that something should be done
to effect an improvement in the present position.
" Accurate statistical information is of the greatest importance
to scientific workers and it is also of great use to administrators.
International questions are frequently involved.
" In India the position cannot by any stretch of the imagination
be regarded as satisfactory.
" In perusing the mortality figures in our annual reports I feel
that inaccuracy is rampant, but we are in the hands of our infor-
mants entirely.
" The systems of collecting statistical information vary in the
different provinces. I shall be interested if any representative
regards his local system as satisfactory. Statistics relating to diseases
should be checked by professional men if possible, but our numbers
are too few. Efforts have been made in several provinces to ins-
truct revenue or police officials, as the case may be, in rough and
ready methods of diagnosis, but I doubt if they have had much
effect. In the Punjab Veterinary Assistants have to assist patwaris
in diagnosing diseases.
"There is no doubt that many animals die of disease that are
not reported and unless a disease assumes enzootic proportions what
else is to be expected ? "
Mr. Cameron stated that he was not satisfied with the present
state of affairs. He described the system in vogue in Burma.
Each village headman kept a cattle deaths register and each death
was recorded in this register, upon a foil and two counterfoils. This
contained the name of the owner, kind of animal, age, value and
cause of death as far as this could be diagnosed. Particulars of each
record were collected by the police patrols from the register and a
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counterfoil was sent to the Sub-divisional Officer. The Veterinary
Assistants in Burma were all touring officers and when they
got to a village they inspected the registers, checked the results
and signed their name on the last counterfoil. From time to
time the inspecting veterinary officer checked the signatures and
glanced through the alleged causes of death and ascertained the
date of the last death. On the whole this system worked fairly
well, but much depended on the village headmen who sometimes were
guilty of neglecting their work. For example, in one village no
animal was reported as having died for five years. In some districts
lectures were given by the veterinary officers in the course of their
tours to village headmen and others so as to give them some idea of
the methods of notifying cattle deaths. Small text-books were also
issued through the Deputy Commissioner for the use of those who
were interested, and recently in some districts, as above mentioned,
a system of examining men after the course of lectures in regard to
their proficiency in this respect had been adopted and prizes amount-
ing sometimes to Rs. 50 were awarded to those who got the highest
marks. As a result of these endeavours it had been found that the
standard of the entries recorded had very much improved. In
Upper Burma, on the other hand, this system of cattle death registra-
tion had not been adopted and the number of deaths was estimated
roughly by the district authority. The use of the cattle deaths
register had been recommended for adoption in Upper Burma.
Mr. Hickey said that the system of recording in the United
Provinces was very bad. The recording agency was the Revenue
Department and the deaths were reported to the authorities by the
patwaris.
Mr. Wilson stated that in the Central Provinces information
regarding animal deaths was obtained from the police in some
districts, and from the Revenue Department in other districts.
Mr. MacGregor stated that this was the system in vogue in Bengal.
It frequently happened that the officials were much too busy with
their other work to pay the necessary attention to the reporting of
animal disease. He suggested that the work might be entrusted
entirely to the revenue officials.
Mr. Farbrother stated that in the Bombay Presidency deaths
were reported by the Revenue officials through the village patel.
Khan Saheb Sheikh Naiz Mohammed stated that the first
essential was to educate the cultivators so that they could be induced
to report mortality to the revenue officials. At present there was
no proper system of obtaining information in his province (U. P.)
from the revenue officers. The returns collected were of no benefit
to the Civil Veterinary Department. He suggested that the Police
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Department might be put in general charge of this class of work
and that they should instruct the village chowkidar to insist upon the
reporting of deaths. He recommended the same system of report-
ing as was adopted in connection with human disease. He consi-
dered that the police authorities were better fitted for this work
than the revenue authorities.
Mr. Cameron stated that in Burma statistics with regard to deaths
were collected and eventually passed through the Revenue Depart-
ment, but in the case of rinderpest, the Sub-divisional Officer
telegraphed the occurrence of an outbreak to the veterinary
authorities.
Mr Riley stated that in Bihar a system of reporting similar to
that described as obtaining in Lower Burma was in vogue. Deaths-
were reported to the village chowkidar who then reported them to
the Sub-divisional Officer, and this officer sent one copy of the
report to the police and one to the touring Veterinary Assistant.
Mr. Ware stated that in Madras the notification of deaths was
done through the revenue officials, who sent one copy of the report
to the Tahsildar and one copy to the touring Veterinary assistant.
There was difficulty in obtaining reliable information from some
villages and in cases of delinquency the village headman had to
be suspended or fined. In other villages fairly reliable figures were
given.
Mr. Wilson stated that in the Central Provinces the village
patwaris suffered in the event of delinquencies of this kind.
In Bihar, Mr. Riley stated, the chowkidar was in some cases-
negligent.
Mr. MacGregor stated that in Bengal the police chowkidars
had so much to do that the authorities were not prepared to punish
them for their neglect in this direction. It had been well recognized
that an unsatisfactory situation did exist and it was thought at one
time that it would be a good plan to sanction rewards for the satis-
factory reporting of diseases. A simple method of reporting by
distributing differently coloured postcards representing different
forms of diseases for return to headquarters had at one time been
thought of, but officials appeared to be very lax generally in all
matters concerning deaths in animals.
Mr. Ware considered that in those provinces where the reporting
authority was not mentioned, it was important to try to lay down
as soon as possible who was responsible.
Mr. Quirke stated that in the Punjab the reporting of deaths
was done through the patwaris. They had tried the system of
reward, but this method proved quite ineffectual and was liable to
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abuse. Many attempts to improve the system were made by cir-
cularising the District Boards asking them to offer suggestions as to
methods of improving the reporting of deaths, but in the Punjab
no result was obtained, so that at the present time nothing better
than the village patwari was obtainable for the work.
Mr. Harris stated that in Assam a similar system was in vogue.
Deaths were reported to the village headman and he passed the
information through the police to the Sub-divisional officers and to
the Veterinary Assistant. The reports were checked from time to
time by the Veterinary Superintendent. However, there was no
system of checking the headman, and pressure should be applied
to that individual.
Mr. Wilson stated that the statistics available could not be
regarded as affording any reliable evidence with regard to mortality.
In his experience he found that animal owners were often unscru-
pulous about the notification of diseases. He had even found that
they would report the occurrence of an attack of foot-and-mouth
disease in twenty animals in order to attract the Veterinary Assis-
tants into the locality for the treatment of an animal belonging to
a particular owner.
The Chairman discussed the question of rewards for the noti-
fication of disease and he doubted the advantage of such methods.
The Government of India produced a statistical table showing the
incidence of disease in the various provinces, but he did not consi-
der that these statistics had much value. It appeared from the
discussion that the system of reporting differred greatly in the
several provinces. Every annual report contained a paragraph
dealing with this perplexity. He considered that this matter should
be referred to a central authority in order to have a uniform system
throughout the country. The publication of reliable statistics was
a matter of vital importance to the Government, to the Veterinary
Service, and to foreign countries who accepted these figures as
indicating the incidence of animal disease in the country. In all
civilized countries the publication of reliable statistical information
was regarded as an important economic concern, and therefore if
India considered herself a civilized country it was incumbent upon
her to take steps to improve matters in this direction.
Mr. Quirke considered that the conference ought to make some
suggestions in this matter.
Mr. Hewlett, however, thought that as the control of animal
diseases was now a " transferred subject " under the Reforms, this
subject should be left to the Provincial Governments who should be
asked to improve their methods.
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The Chairman contended, however, that as the statistics pub-
lished by the Government of India referred to disease throughout
the whole country it was essential to have some uniform system.
Mr. Edwards maintained that it was particularly for investigat-
ing fundamental questions in veterinary administration of this
kind that he was proposing a " permanent standing committee on
veterinary administration" under subject III (f)(Methods to be adopted
to correlate technical information and render authoritative advice on
professional problems). Matters of this kind, of far-reaching impor-,
tance to the administration of the department, could not be hurried-
ly dealt with at the conference, and for the reasons stated by the
Chairman he considered that uniformity in the drafting of improved
schemes was essential. The subject of statistical inquiry was a
most complex and difficult one at the present time and required
expert advice ; he recommended therefore to the meeting that the
problem involved should be the subject of careful deliberation by
the " Central Standing Advisory Committee on Administration "
if the meeting approved of the creation of this body.
Mr. Wilson thought that improvement in the system might have
to take the form of propaganda work to be undertaken by Local
Governments.
Mr. Ware referred to the financial difficulties that might result
from attempts to improve the system, for a slight rise in the pay of
the village officials in Madras recently amounting to Rs. 4 a month
had resulted in the addition of four crores of rupees to the Govern-
ment budget during the year.
Mr. Harris stated that in Assam the difficulty was an enormous
one for the village headmen were not paid for the work, and hence
no penalty could be inflicted.
Khan Saheb Sheikh Naiz Mohammed thought that the police
should take the work up as part of their duties and should be supplied
with a suitable small text-book together with the necessary informa-
tion connected with it. He found that the patwaris were quite
indifferent with regard to the notification of the disease. The
chowkidar would presumably care more and get better information.
The meeting unanimously passed the following resolution :—
Resolution III (b)
In view of the administrative and professional importance of
obtaining reliable statistics in regard to the mortality inci-
dence in animal disease, a more thorough system of notifica-
tion than the present very unsatisfactory system of reporting
should be immediately investigated and introduced. The
system approved, should, as far as possible, be uniform in
its application throughout India.
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SUBJECT III (c).—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY. WHAT IS THE RÔLE OF
THE CIVIL VETERINARY DEPARTMENT IN DEALING WITH PROB-
LEMS
DIRECTLY CONCERNING LIVE-STOCK INDUSTRIES IN INDIA ?
The Chairman said : "I have referred to the subject, of animal
husbandry in my opening address. I have nothing to add except
to say that I shall be glad to welcome any suggestions dealing with
the professional aspect, which we can embody in a resolution. I
believe that in order to stimulate private enterprise, which is re-
cognized to be an essential step in any efforts destined to improve
the cattle breeding industry, we should endeavour to form cattle
breeding associations for the various breeds with the idea of even-
tually creating stud books." He then read the resolution of the
Board of Agriculture meeting at Pusa in 1916 regarding the best
agency for controlling cattle breeding.
Mr. Smith, Imperial Dairy Expert, who attended the meeting
as representative of the Agricultural Department, stated that
whatever department, veterinary or agricultural, was to control
the subject of cattle breeding in India, they would have to recog-
nize that progress would lie in the encouragement of private enter-
prise. No progress could be effected until they had got the people
themselves interested in the subject. The question of cattle was
the most universal one in India and no matter what crop particularly
interested the agriculturist, he was everywhere dependent upon
the efficiency of the ox as the main factor in cultivation. It was
obvious that he could not have an efficient ox unless he had a healthy
one and therefore the subject of cattle breeding must always be
intimately connected with the Veterinary Service. As the result
of his long experience in the country he held very strong views
upon the subject, and he took every opportunity of impressing
upon the people who dealt with the general question of animal
husbandry that the cattle of the country must be made to produce
more milk as well as be capable of being used for draught purposes
if they were to be regarded as an economic proposition. He had 18
years' experience in this country and had travelled on an average
20,000 miles a year to carry on work in connection with the cattle
industry. The basis of all operations undertaken with a view to
improving the breeds of cattle must be the economical one, and
the best means of economy would be the general introduction of
a better milk-producing animal capable of returning the necessary
outlay and of proving its utility as a draught animal in addition.
He thought that what had been done in other countries in this
respect could be done in India also. He referred to the excellent
work that had been done in Hissar in producing a good quality of
draught animal, and he was much impressed by the good work now
107
undertaken by Mr. Quirke in the Punjab with a view to improving
the milking qualities of the breeds of cattle. At the last meeting
of the Board of Agriculture at Pusa, the formation of a Central
Cattle Board was recommended, and one of the functions of this
board would be to formulate and control herd books in connection
with the indigenous breeds. He saw quite well that the Provincial
Governments looked for a central authority to give them advice on
these matters and efforts in this direction were much more impres-
sive when they were regarded as Imperial concerns.
Mr. Quirke stated that he was in full agreement with what Mr.
Smith had said with regard to the improvement of the indigenous
breeds with a view to increasing the milk supply. He had already
commenced work along these lines and had established a herd book
in what he regarded as a suitable area for the purpose in the Punjab.
In this area the breed of cattle had been kept pure, as there was no
communication by means of railways between it and the outlying
districts. He had thought it would be well to make a start even as
late as the year 1923 with a herd book so that a permanent record
would remain of this breed. It was indispensable to stimulate
local enterprise in this subject, but unfortunately at the present
time it did not pay the zemindar to breed good cattle as the prices
obtained for improved cattle did not run to what would be considered
profitable.
Mr. Smith stated that the Chairman had raised in his opening
address the very question which had come most prominently in
their minds in connection with the cattle industry at the Board of
Agriculture meeting held at Pusa, last year, namely, the estab-
lishment of a Central Cattle Board.
Mr. Hickey stated that in the United Provinces an advisory
board had been established last year for this purpose.
After some further discussion the meeting unanimously
resolved:—
Resolution III (c)
That this Conference strongly favours the establishment of
Cattle Boards, Central and Provincial, and considers
essential that the veterinary profession should be adequately
represented on these bodies.
SUBJECT III (d).-METHODS FOR FACILITATING AND IMPROVING THE
SUPPLY OF SERA AND OTHER LABORATORY PRODUCTS, PARTI-
CULARLY IN REGARD TO THE NEEDS OF REMOTE DISTRICTS.
This subject was placed on the agenda at the instigation of Mr.
Cameron (Burma).