3
23. No information under these heads is available.
IV. —SUBORDINATE ESTABLISHMENT.
24. Table VII shows the strength of the subordinate staff on the 31st March 1907.
At the beginning of the year under report the staff consisted of 1 Inspector and
12 assistants ; during the year 2 men joined the Department and three left ;
consequently the strength at the end of the year was one Inspector and 11 assistants.
Nine of these men were paid from Local and the remainder from Provincial funds.
Since the close of the year a Veterinary Assistant has been posted at each of the
following places :—Dacca, Mymensingh, Faridpur, Pabna, Rajshahi, Malda, Noakhali,
Comilla, and Rangpur in Eastern Bengal, and Habiganj, Goalpara, Dhubri,
Gauhati, and Shillong in Assam.
V.—EXPENDITURE OF THE DEPARTMENT.
25. The cost of the Department, as stated by the Accountant General, amounted
to Rs. 25,269. The details are given in the table appended to the report.
VI. —GENERAL REMARKS.
26. During the year under report the Veterinary Department in Eastern Bengal
and Assam has been greatly handicapped in many ways and the work has been
accomplished under considerable difficulty. The number of Veterinary Assistants
has been totally inadequate for the needs of the province ; several dispensaries have
been closed for want of suitable men, only one Veterinary Inspector has been avail-
able and the Department has been without a Vetrinary Superintendent during the
whole year. Taking into consideration these disadvantages, the lack of inspection,
co-operation, etc., it is not surprising that the total work of the year does not
show any great advance when compared with the previous year. Satisfactory work
has, however, been accomplished in regard to the checking of contagious disease in
several districts. The demand for preventative inoculation daily becomes greater as
its benefits become known and at no distant date there will be few places remaining
in the province where inoculation will be objected to. The veterinary dispensaries
are doing useful and satisfactory work which is undoubtedly appreciated by all
classes. It has been already mentioned that the strength of the Department is
insufficient to cope with the work in the districts. To handle effectually the various
outbreaks of contagious disease the number of assistants must be greatly increased.
This increase can only be accomplished gradually, as the supply of qualified men
passing out from the college is strictly limited each year. In addition to the increase
in the itinerating staff (which is limited to a few districts) a great advantage would be
gained by employing a number of staff Veterinary Assistants, who would be stationed
at headquarters and whose services would be available for inoculation work in any part
of the province, wherever they happened to be most needed. These men would at the
same time form a reserve to fill up gaps caused by sickness, leave, etc. I have hopes
that several new despensaries WilL be started throughout the province and that
suitable accommodation for both clerical and professional staff will be provided at
headquarters. A dispensary is urgently required at Dacca, the present one being
only for municipal cattle.
27. When the Veterinary Department gets prompt and accurate information
of outbreaks of contagious diseases, the latter can often be attacked in an early stage
and before any great loss has taken place. The services of the police force have
proved most valuable in giving such information, and it is to be hoped that this means
of reducing the severe mortality in cattle by early information of outbreaks will be
continued.
28. In addition to increasing the number of dispensaries and pursuing more
vigorously the suppression of contagious deseases, it is also intended in due course to
take steps for the improvement of the cattle. For some time bull-breeding has been
undertaken on a small scale, but with proper facilities and after full enquiry has been
made into this subject as it presents itself in different parts of the province, a much
larger policy might be adopted. The present wretched condition of the tonga ponies
on the Gauhati-Shiilong road is receiving immediate attention.
W. HARRIS,
Superintendent, Civil Veterinary
Department,
Eastern Bengal and Assam.