Proceedings of the Punjab Government (Ministry of Local Self-
        Government) in the Home (Medical) Department, No. 15562,
        dated the 23rd May 1927.

READ—

A letter No. 2963-G., dated the 9th May 1927, from the Inspector-
            General of Civil Hospitals, Punjab, forwarding the Punjab
            Mental Hospital Report for the triennium 1924 — 1926, to-
            gether with his note thereon.

REMARKS. —During the three years from 1921 to 1923 the
daily average population of the Punjab Mental Hospital increased
steadily up to 900, with the result that there was considerable
over-crowding : in the period under review, however, the tendency-
has been in the opposite direction, and the average strength
fell to 875 in 1924, 865 in 1925 and 854 in 1926. This
decrease is attributed chiefly to the raising of the fees for
maintenance charged to local bodies and private persons from
Rs. 16 to Rs. 20 a month with effect from 1st January 1924, a
step which was taken in order to relieve provincial finances of
the very heavy burden imposed upon them by the up-keep
of the hospital. The relief has, however, been insignificant,
receipts from fees in 1926 being only about Rs. 2,500 more
than in 1923 and actually Rs. 1,000 less than in 1921
and amounting to only Rs. 12,160 in all out of a total
expenditure on maintenance of nearly Rs. 2½ lakhs. The
cost of the hospital in fact still remains exceedingly high,
and the latest Audit and Inspection Report of its accounts would
appear to indicate that stricter supervision of expenditure would
result in considerable economies. The Punjab Government
(Ministry of Local Self-Government) recently deputed the
Superintendent of the Hospital and another officer to visit mental
hospitals in other provinces and to report in what respects charges
for the Punjab Hospital are excessive. The report of these
officers is awaited, but Government are confident that it will be
found that expenditure can be reduced without any loss of effi-
ciency. In 1926 the cost per head per annum was indeed about
Rs. 20 less than in the previous year, but even so it was higher
than in 1923, and though the incidence of overhead charges is
bound to be greater as the population of the hospital declines,
it is important that every effort compatible with efficiency should
be made still further to reduce maintenance charges. At a
time when the accommodation in the hospital was not sufficient
for the number of patients the fact that the increase of the fees