3
for a net profit in the manufacturing department of Rs. 4,060. The receipts
from paying-patients shows an increase of Rs. 1,064 on 1887 and net profits in
the manufacturing department a decrease of Rs. 94.
The following table shows comparatively the cost of each patient at each
asylum for the past three years:
Colába ... ...
Ratnágiri ... ...
Poona ... ...
Dhárwár ... ...
Ahmedabad ... ...
Hyderabad ... ...
Total ...
Average Daily Strength ...
Daily
Average
Strength in
1888.
272.3
54.5
83.1
27.8
107.6
134.0
679.3
679.3
Net Cost.
Rs.
58,520
9,743
12,078
6,655
12,588
10,072
1,09,658
a.
15
1
5
0
14
10
15
p.
1
5
4
7
11
3
7
......
Cost per Head.
1888.
Rs.
214
178
145
239
116
75
a.
14
12
5
6
15
9
p.
6
3
5
2
10
2
......
161 6 10
1887.
Rs.
199
218
141
220
115
75
a.
6
9
12
4
14
9
p.
4
0
9
7
0
2
......
154 12 6
1886.
Rs.
232
348
142
348
117
72
a.
13
15
9
9
0
3
p.
3
3
5
4
11
9
......
175 12 4
It will be observed that at Colába the average cost has been raised as
compared with 1887, and this is due to the following reasons :
(a) the daily average strength was 272.3 in 1888 against 280.4 in
1887, so that the expenditure was spread over a smaller number of patients ;
(b) there has been a net increase in the Colába Asylum expenditure of
Rs. 3,146, due chiefly to the increased pay of the Superintendent, and the
construction of padded cells, which caused an increase of Rs. 2,150 in the
Public Works charges. It may be mentioned that the diets at Colába cost
Rs. 1,242 less than in 1887, due in part to the modified dietary sanctioned
in Government Resolution No. 1600, dated 16th May 1888, General
Department.
In Ratnágiri Asylum the average cost has been reduced, due partly to
this institution being now a going concern and partly to an increased number of
patients.
The average cost in Poona has been increased by higher rates for contract
diets and petty supplies and to the biennial supply of clothing to the keepers.
In Dhárwár the high average cost per head must always be attributed to
the small number of patients which this asylum is constructed to accommodate,
viz. 28. The establishment would, with a very small increase, suffice for a
much larger lunatic population, and inexpensive alterations would enable this
asylum to accommodate 50 more insanes. Being situated in a populous
district at some distance from any other asylum it will always be desirable to
keep this asylum open. Proposals have already been submitted to Government
for a reduction in the cost of the present establishment. The diets cost Rs. 45
per head against Rs. 54 in 1887.
In Ahmedabad, the lower average daily strength throughout the year
accounts for the slightly increased cost per head.
It will be observed that the net cost of each asylum does not bear a pro-
portion to the average cost per head. Taking Hyderabad with a daily average
of 134 as the standard of efficient and economical management, we find that
Ahmedabad and Poona, with daily average proportions of 107 and 83 respectively,
cost Rs. 2,500 and 2,000 more than Hyderabad. A reference to Statement IX
shows also that diets cost, for a smaller number of patients, about Rs. 2,000 more
than at Hyderabad, but it must not be lost sight of that the cost of food grains is
somewhat lower in Sind than in Gujarát and the Deccan. Clothing and bedding
led to a much heavier expenditure at Poona and Ahmedabad (more especially the