rom J. P. SHEETY, Esq., I.C.S., Officiating Secretary to the Development Commissioner, Burma, to the
Revenue Secretary to the Government of Burma,—No. 405—1V.-31, dated the 11th August 1923.
SUBJECT.—Report on the Civil Veterinary Department for the year ended 31st
March 1922.
I am directed to submit the Report on the Civil Veterinary Department,
Burma, for the year ended the 31st March 1922. The Report though
dated the 39th May 1993 did not reach the Development Commissioner till the
the 14th July 1922.
J. General Administration.—The
superior staff of the Department was
short-handed during the greater part of the year. The Second Superintendent,
Mr. C. J. N. Cameron, whose main charge is the Veterinary School, Insein, was
on leave till the 30th November. During his absence Captain O'Neill, the Third
Superintendent, who joined the Department so recently as the 11th December
1920, held charge of the School. The latest recruit Captain J, Birkenshaw Idle,
Superintendent of Stock Breeding, was engaged throughout the year in learning
local conditions and took no part in the regular work of the Department. The
work of inspection naturally suffered. Out of 189 Veterinary Assistants in the
province at the end of the year only 65 were inspected by the Superintendents,
46 by Mr. Rennie and 19 by Captain O'Neill. The Report does not state how
many Veterinary Assistants were inspected by Deputy Superintendents, but in
view of the facts that three of the nine sanctioned appointments in the Burma
Veterinary Service were still vacant at the end of the year, while for some
months there were only four Deputy Superintendents of whom two were not
available for ordinary district work, it seems probable that the supervision which
they exercised over Veterinary Assistants did not make up for the lack of superior
officers. The Department continued to be administered during the year by the
Veterinary Adviser, Mr, Rennie, on the same centralised lines as have been
followed for many years. Mr. Keith is disposed to think that once the staff of
Deputy Superintendents has been brought up to strength the subordinate estab-
lishment should be transferred to the control of District Councils. This will
relieve the Veterinary Adviser and his assistants of the headquarters work of
checking travelling allowance bills and diaries and enable them to devote more
time to actual inspection on the ground. The department is outgrowing the
present system of administration, which worked well when the number of Veteri-
nary Assistants was fewer and the office work at headquarters was less. With
an increase in the number of subordinates and of work at headquarters, the inherent
defects of the system become apparent. Veterinary Assistants and Inspectors
are subject to very little control. District Officers pay little heed to their move-
ments save when a serious outbreak of cattle disease takes place. The depart-
ment does not, so far as the officiating Development Commissioner is aware,
assist in the compilation of the annual census of live-stock although Veterinary
Assistants are obviously in a better position than Revenue Surveyors to obtain
information under this head from the villages which they visit. With the advent
of District Councils it should be possible for the Chairman or the Secretary to
exercise a much closer control over the movements of Veterinary Inspectors and
Veterinary Assistants than has hitherto been practicable. A Veterinary Inspec-
tor will be required for the area under each District Council but the fact that the
number of Inspectors does not as yet admit of this need not postpone the intro-
duction of District Council's control. The transfer of the Inspectorate to the
control of District Councils need not be simultaneous with the transfer of Veteri-
nary Assistants.
3, Veterinary Instruction.—It is a matter for regret that no progress was
made during the year in the construction of the new buildings required for the
Veterinary School at Insein, The plans are said to have been lost. Messrs
Rennie and Cameron are, however, fully acquainted with the proposals and there
should be no difficulty in reconstructing the missing plans in consultation with
the officers of the Public Works Department. Mr. Keith has requested the