96 Report& on the administration of local boards iu the Province of Bombay for the yenr Hl3G-"37. GOVERNMENT OF BOMBAY. GENER~ DEPARTMENT. Resolution No. P. 52. Bombay Castle, 23rd June 1938. · ~~ad r?ports from the Comm~ssioners, Northern, Central and Southern Divisions, on the admm,stratJOn of the local boards m their respective chargee during the year 1936-37. RESOLUTION.-Number of locallx!ards.-The number of district lO<'.al boards· remained unchanged, but owing to the abolition, with effeot from 1st October 1935 of all taluka · local boards in the Sholapur, Belgaum and Surat districts th~ • number of taluka local boards decreased from 159 to 137. · ' ' 2. Area and population.-The area and population of the local boards during the year under report remained the same. · · 3. Oonstitution.-The constitution of the local boards remained unchanged except in _the case of the Kol!Lba District where an. additional elective seat was given to the Ahbag Taluka Constituency. ' ·· · 4. Elections.-·No general elections were held during the year. 5: Meetings-Northern Division.-The total number of meetings hold by the district and taluka local boards was 51 and 208 respectively as against 68 and 248 held during the previous year. The average percentage of attendance of the members at the meetings of district and taluka local boards was 82 · 24 and 71· 23, respectively, as against 83 · 85 and 74 · 02 in the previous year. The number ot meetings adjourned for want of a quorum and for other reasons was 10 in the case of district local boards and 13 in the case of taluka local boards as against 16 and 25 respectively during the preceding year, the chief reasons for the adjournments being (i) non-completion of the work on the agenda and "i) deaths of political leaders. · · OentraZ Divisicn.-The total number of meetings held by the district and 'taluka local boards was 56 and 340 respectively as against 61 and 408 helil during the previous year. · · The average percentage of attendance of the members at the meetings of the district local boards and taluka local boards was 79 and 71'44 respectively as against 85 ·56 and 75 ·78 in the preceding year. · The number of meetings adjourned for want of a quorum and for othqr reasons was 8 in the case of district local boards and 9 in" respect of taluka local boards as against 15 and 21 iespectiv.llly during the preceding year. The Karjat and Junnar Taluka Local Boards in the Ahmednagar and Poona 'districts respectively did not hold the requisite number of meetings prescribed by section 35 (1) of the Bombay Local Boards Act, 1923. TM Taluka Boards of Karad, W alwa, Satara, Khanapur and Koregaon in the Satara DiMtrict committed . breaches of section 35 (1) inasmuch as some of their meetings were convened after the lapse of three months. · · Southern Divisicn.-The number of meetings held by the dilltrict and taluka local boards was 45 and 241 respectively as against 41 and 257 during the previous year. The average percentage of attendance of the member_s at the meetings of distriot and taluka local boards was 83·87 and 77·5 as agamst 74•37 and 67·54 in the previous year. The ~umber of meetings adjourned was 15 .in the case of district local boards and 12 m respect of taluka local boards as agatnst 13 and 23 during the previons year. Business was transacted by circulation of agenda under section 41 of the Act once during the year by the District Local Boards of Belgaum anil Bijapur and the Taluka Local Boards of Kumta and Sangameshwar, and twice by the Taluka Local Boards of Haliyal, Alibag and Ratnagiri. KO-I Gilnl H 58-1 2 .. · 6. I ncome.-The aggregate income of local boards (excluding opening .balance and debt) increased from Rs. 1,60,83,429 to Rs. 1,63,90,966 .. The reasons for the increase or decrease in the main sources of revenue are explamed below :- • (a) Local Rates.-The receipts decreased from Rs. 38,13,525 to .· Rs. 32,89,781. The decrease occurred in all Divisions and was mainly due to less realisations from the local fund cess owing to the suspension of the collec­ tion of the cess owing to the scarcity prevailing in certain districts. (b) Education.-The receipts increased from Rs. 90,34,93~ toRs. 94,78,~21. The increase occurred in all Divisions and was ·mainly due to mcreased receipts from Government grants for primary education. (c) Medical.-The. receipts increased from Rs. 2?2~.~85 to Rs. 2,31,?15. The increase occurred m the Central and Southern DIVISions and was mainly due to larger receipts from dispensary fees. · · (d) Civil Work.s.-The . receipts increased . ·from Rs. 16,40,394 to Rs. 20,45,367.. The increase occurred in all Divisions and was mainly due to (i) enhanced Government grants for communications and village w.ater supply, and (ii) lump contributions from Government in lieu of toll revenue. and (iii) larger receipts from .ferries. · , · • 7. Expenditure.-The aggregate expenditure of the local boards chargeable to current income increased from Rs. 1,56,32,469 to Rs. 1,63,31,040. The reasons for the increase or decrease under the main heads of exp'enditure are explained below:- (a) Administration.-The expenditure. decreased from Rs. 6,10,680 to Rs. 5,98,351. The decrease occurred in the Northern Division and was mainly due to the fact that th:e last year's figure of expenditure Of the District Local Board, Ahmedabad, under this head included expenditure on the administra­ tion of the District School Board. The increase in other Divisions was mainly · due to (i) the payment of increments to members of the establishments; and (ii) greater expenditure on account of· travelling. allowances of members of. local boards. · . · · (b) Education.-The expenditure increased from Rs. 1,02,94,247 to Rs. 1,07,43,174. The increase occurred in all the Divisions and wa11 mainly due to (i) the restoration of cuts in the pay of primary school teachers,: (ii) opening of new schools and (iii) the payment of larger contributions·to the school boards. ~c) Medical.-The expenditure decreased from Rs. 9,56,146 toRs. 9,50,996. The. ~ecrease occurred ·in the Central and Southern Divisions, and, being. negligible, calls for no remarks. · (d) Civil Works.-The expenditure increased ·from Rs. 31,10,454 to Rs. 33,00,582. The increase occurred in the Northern and Central Divisions and was mainly due to the larger. expenditure on the construction of· communications, buildings and water supply. · ' ·. 8. Closing balances.-The aggregate balances of 1\ll the loc~l boards amoU:.ted .. to Rs. 58,61,693, as against Rs. 52,05,865 in the previous year. · The closing balances of most of the district local boards were again in excess of the prescribed · minima and this was due mainly to (i) the accumulation of balances of the district school boards and taluka local boards and other deposits and advances, (ii) the late recovery of local fund cess and (iii) non-colll;pletion of.budgetted works. 9. Primary Educatio'Tir-Northern Division.-In the· Ahmedabad District s~teen buildings were constructed during the year from the Rao Bahadur G1rdharlal Uttamram Charitable Endowment Fund and Seth Mangaldas Girdhardas Cheap Building Scheme Fund. ln the Kaira District, the number of the English classes increased from 23 to 25. A Girls' School building was started at Thasra by a private donation of about Rs. 10,000. The District School Board, Broach, con­ structed three.new schools. In the Surat District the number of the school buildings ~nder .the Su Paf!!hottamdas Thakordas Scheme reached 90, while 12 more (mcluding 4 extens10n works) are under construction. The number of libraries under 'the scheme rose from 150 to 250. The number of night schools increased from 4 to 6. • 3 97 Central Divis~.-In the ~mednagar, Nasik, Satara and Sholapur districts the number of pnmary schools. mcrea.sed by 2, 25; 8 and 5 respectively, while in East Kh~ndesh and Poona thmr number decreased by 2 and 8 rt>l!pectively. The decrease m Poona was partly due to the facts that (1) the 5 local board schools at Dhond have been classed as non-local authority schools of the newly established Municipality and (2) the special depressed class schools have been amalgamated with the common primary schools. ·, . A Refresher Course was held in Poona in February 1937 for the teachers of these classes, and all the boards deputed their teachers to attend it. ·The Ahmednaga.r Board has increased its night schools from 24 to 41, and these are attended by 1,023 persons. The board has also appointed a committee to formulat~ a. scheme for adult education. It has also taken up the problem of school bwldings and has constructed 6 new buildings of modern design during the year. · . · . · · :All the ~oards are taking practical interest in encouraging education among the mtermediate and depressed classes .):>y the grant of scholarships and other facilities. Greater attention is also being paid to the physical education ot the children by insistence on games, and other exercises and the formation of Boy Scout _and Girl Guide companies. · Southern Diviswn.-The total number of primary schools in Dharwar, Kanara, Kolaba and Ratnagiri, rose by. 66, 17, 1 and 42 respectively, while in the .Belgaum District the number fell by 2, the schools having been closed on account of low attendance. • In the Belgaum District the number of schools for the scheduled -classes fell by 1 ·due to its amalgamation.