REVENUE DEPARTMENT.
AGRICULTURE.
CALCUTTA, THE 30TH AUGUST 1917.
RESOLUTION—No. 6528Agri.
READ—
The Annual Reports of the Veterinary College and of the Civil Veterinary
Department, Bengal, for the year 1916-17, with the Director of Agriculture's
review thereof.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL A. SMITH,Principal, Bengal Veterinary College,
continued to hold charge of the College as well as of the office of Superin-
tendent, Civil Veterinary Department, throughout the year, Mr. P. J. Kerr
and Mr. A. D. MacGregor being still absent on military duty. All touring
and inspection work of the department was performed by Babu Sarat
Chandra Pal, Deputy Superintendent, who was on tour for 118 days. As
in the previous year, seven veterinary assistants of the department were
on military duty. The Governor in Council notices with regret the death
of Babu Jagman Singh which occurred while he was on leave from military
duty.
2. The number of students at the Bengal Veterinary College at the
end of the session was 148. There has been a steady increase in the
number of students, the figures for the previous three years being 91, 96 and
135, but there remains a demand in the Presidency for qualified veterinary
assistants which is not yet satisfied by the supply of candidates. The
course at the Bengal Veterinary College affords an opening to an honourable
career for a young man who is not afraid of hard work in the open air, and
the Governor in Council is persuaded that if the opportunities which it
offers were better known the demand for candidates would be supplied. The
Principal's report shows that of the students who passed out of the College
during the past three years 57 are in the service of Government or of local
bodies, 5 are in private service, and none are unemployed, while during the
year under report 12 departmental posts of veterinary assistants were vacant
for want of qualified candidates. The steady expansion of expenditure on
veterinary work incurred by local authorities indicates an increased interest
in the subject and a probability of a further demand in the near future.
The course at the Veterinary College extends over three years, and no
fees are charged for tuition : the total annual expenditure for hostel fees
and messing charges amounts to about Rs. 114. Government provide 24
scholarships ranging from Rs. 5 to Rs. 10 per month, and District Boards
provide 25 ranging from Rs. 12 to Rs. 15 per month. The initial pay
of a veteriuary assistant employed by a District Board or municipality is
Rs. 30, and this rises to Rs. 70 by quinquennial increments of Rs. 5. Can-
didates for admission to the College are required to have passed the Entrance
Examination of the Calcutta University or to have completed the High School
course, or to pass a special examination conducted by the Principal of the
College. Applications are required to reach the Principal not later than April
the 15th. Out of 148 students at the end of the session of 1916-17 only 54
were Bengalis. The Governor in Council gives prominence to these details in
the hope that Bengal will make an effort to supply its own requirements in
the matter of veterinary assistants.
3. During the year under report important changes were introduced in
the extension of the Glanders and Farcy Act and in the provision of greater
facilities for the use of the Act in places to which it was extended. At the
same time the statutory rules of Western and Eastern Bengal were co-
ordinated, and the law and the rules are now uniform throughout the
Presidency. In Western Bengal the Act was extended to the whole province
in 1910, whereas in Eastern Bengal its application was restricted to certain
localities, because it was held that the Veterinary Department was not strong
enough to administer the Act in all places. The strengthening of the depart-
ment, the success of the policy adopted in Western Bengal, and the serious
inconvenience which arose when an outbreak of disease made it necessary to
extend the Act hastily to the affected area led Government to adopt the
Western Bengal system throughout the Presidency. Important duties under