( 3 )
total of 32 (19 males and 13 females) for the province. As the accom-
modation at Benares for this class of patients is very unsatisfactory,
and it seemed advisable to have all the European patients in one
asylum, I recommended to Government in November last that all the
male lunatics and 9 out of the 13 female lunatics (Agra 8 and Bareilly
1) be transferred to Lucknow, and that the Lucknow asylum be altered
so as to accommodate 14 more females. If this is done there will be
accommodation for 24 males and 24 females, and the four at present at
Benares can also then be moved to Lucknow. The matter is still under
consideration.
6. The question of the treatment of recovered criminal lunatics
was raised during the year 1905, and it was considered whether a scheme
could be devised which would, without practically any increased cost to
Government, provide for recovered criminal lunatics being accommodated
apart from lunatics and criminals, and at the same time provide facilities
for gradually giving them a certain amount of probationary freedom
and so testing their fitness for eventual release. It was urged that
although it appeared inadvisable to have recovered lunatics in close
contact with insane persons, it was equally wrong to place them in close
contact with convicted criminals, and as the transfer of the native
lunatics from Lucknow to Agra set free a good portion of the accom-
modation available at the former institution a portion might, with
advantage, be set apart for the accommodation of recovered criminal
lunatics, by the erection of a wall cutting off the rest of the asylum
and the provision of a separate entrance to that in use at present.
Here recovered criminal lunatics could be kept during their probation-
ary period without their coming in contact with insanes and being
liable to moral contamination from association with criminals.
It
was further urged that after being kept under observation for a
certain time they might be allowed to visit the bazars, being given
a small sum monthly to spend as they liked, and eventually if found
fit to be trusted, they should be permitted, during the last year or
so of their probation, to work for themselves. The proposal to set
aside a portion of the lunatic asylum at Lucknow for this purpose is
a good one, and all four Superintendents of asylums are in agreement
with me. When the European lunatics are provided for in a central
European asylum, the recovered criminal lunatics could, if the Lucknow
asylum is to be closed, be sent to the Bareilly Reformatory which
is close to the jail there and could be placed under the charge of the
Superintendent of the jail who is a whole-time officer. I inspected
the reformatory, which is now empty, and consider it to be suitable for
the purpose, although the accommodation there is much in excess of the
requirements for this class. There is accommodation for 250, while the
probable number of recovered criminal lunatics in the provinces is well
below 100. There is only cell or cubicle accommodation in six blocks,
but two of the factories could be easily converted into barracks and would
contain all the lunatics, while the third factory could be used as such.
I am, however, very doubtful whether these recovered lunatics should
be allowed to visit the bázars during their probationary period. It is
a question whether they could be trusted to return to their barracks
at night unless escorted by a guard. I would prefer to employ them
in interesting and skilled labour within the institution, thus giving
them the full benefit of regular work. This would be the best means
for keeping their minds in stable equilibrium. If allowed to wander about
without any supervision they would be exposed to all manner of
deleterious and exciting influences. Government has accepted my opinion,
and the whole question will be taken up when the matter of retaining
the Lucknow asylum has been settled.
Admissions
and results.
7. Statement No. I.—At the commencement of the year 1903 there
were 1,136 lunatics in the four asylums, the number rising to 1,150 on the
1st January 1904 and to 1,183 on the 1st January 1905. The number of
admissions fell from 281 in 1903 to 268 in 1904, but they rose to 503