9
These officers between them toured altogether for ninety days,
and travelled 5,313 miles by rail, 137 by road and 696 by steamer.
They inspected the work of almost all the veterinary assistants in the
subdivisions and also at the important district headquarters of
this
Presidency.
5. A Second Deputy Superintendent for the Eastern Bengal divisions
was sanctioned by Government in July 1920, and Babu Nripendra Nath
Majumdar, Veterinary Inspector, Chittagong, was appointed to fill that
post with headquarters at Dacca. He joined there on the forenoon of the
20th September 1920, and inspected the work of the veterinary assistants
of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Mymensingh, Kishoreganj, Netrokona, Jamalpur
and Sarisabari, in the Chittagong and Dacca divisions. He also attended
a conference of Veterinary Inspectors held at Calcutta in September 1920,
and in March last went with me to Ranchi to learn the double instantaneous
method of inoculation against rinderpest. He was out on tour for 48 days
and travelled 1,295 miles by rail, 56 by road and 696 by steamer.
6. Of the four veterinary assistants who were away on Military duty,
two, viz., S. L. Sen and J. N. Sen, returned to this Department on the com-
pletion of their term there. The services of the remaining two, viz., A. M.
Ghose and U. N. Sarkar, have been placed at the disposal of the Bagdad
Government for the period of one year.
Part I.—Veterinary Instruction.
7. Vernacular leaflets dealing with the prevention and treatment of
cattle diseases were, as usual, freely distributed during the year under report,
and veterinary assistants and inspectors were instructed to explain and
distribute to cattle owners and cubivatovs the beneficial effects of hygiene,
cattle-breeding and cultivation of fodder, etc.
8. Veterinary Union Committees are in existence in several important
unions in the Nadia district to co-operate with the veterinary officers
of this Department in the matter of combating outbreaks of cattle-disease
and the improvement of cattle in general. At the close of the year propa-
ganda meetings on veterinary matters were held in the different parts of
the Burdwan Division, and Union Veterinary Associations were organised
under the patronage of Mr. J. N. Gupta, M.B.E., I.C.S., Commissioner of the
Burdwan Division. The veterinary assistant attached to each subdivision,
together with the circle inspector and a special officer deputed from the staff,
attended several meetings and explained to the public the utility of this
Department. As a result the members of these committees are taking an
active interest in veterinary matters, particularly by promptly reporting
outbreaks of cattle-disease to the veterinary assistant concerned.
Part II.—Treatment of Diseases.
9. During the year under report 19,3 14 deaths from contagious diseases
were reported as against 14,898 during the year previous
Table II shows
the figures for each district in detail. Rinderpest, as usual, has been the
most serious and accounted for 17,425 of the deaths reported. Although
this might at first glance appear to be an excessive number, it is pointed
out that with the increasing attention given tc, and facilities for, ascertaining
details and reporting outbreaks nowadays, many more come to light than
in past years. As a proof of this, I would refer to the districts in the
Burdwan Division where 144 more outbreak reports were received than in
the preceding year. There was, however, a substantial reduction in death-
rate from hæmorrhagic septicæmia and other contagious diseases.
Equine.
10. Glanders.—The disease appeared in Hill Tippera as also in Sodepur
Pinjrapole. Only three animals either succumbed to the malady or were
destroyed in accordance with the Glanders and Farcy Act. The owners
being rich men, no compensation was paid for compulsory destruction of their
animals during the year under report.