'ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1908-1909' [‎131r] (123/132)

CHAPTER YI.—VITAL statistics and medical relief.
1. Births and Deaths.
. il g see Annual Report of the Sanitary Commissioner for the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. for 1908 with
T° r a pp en( iices and tables under Vital Statistics, printed in Bart V of the Statistics of British India.
1 Among tbe European civil population 329 births and 309 deaths were recorded in Europeans.
1008 against 362 births and 302 deaths in 1907. The birth-rate was per mille against
19-25 and the death-rate 16’4,3 per mille against 16-06.
2 Among Eurasians 129 births and 177 deaths were registered against 168 and 150 Eurasians,
respectively in 1907, the birth-rate being 19-67 per mille against 25 , 62 and the death-rate
26-99 per mille against 22’88.
8. The number of births registered was 660,201, showing an increase of 49,668 compared Natives,
with the year 1907. The ratio per mille was 35-72 against 33-03. Of the children bom males
formed 51*9 per cent, and ferna-es 48-1 per cent.; i, e., male births numbered 107*92 per cent, of
female and female births numbered 92*65 per cent, of male. The deaths recorded among the
native population in 1908 numbered 501,838, showing a decrease cf 104,768 compared with
the preceding year. The death-rate per mille was 27*56 for males and 26*83 for females. The
highest death-rate was 39-47 in Bombay, and the lowest 16-39 in the Upper Sind Frontier.
Having regard to ages, the highest death-rate was 298*99 per mille among infants under one
year, and the lowest was I’ll per mille among children between the ages of 10 and 15. years.
The death-rates per mille among Mahomedans, Hindus, Jains, Christians and Parsis were
21*32, 28 67, 20-42, 23*39 and 23*94 respectively. In the case of every class except Christians
there has been a decrease compared with the figures for 1907.
4. Of the total number of 501,838 deaths or 27*15 per mille, fever was responsible for Causes of deaths
243,372 or 13'17 ; respiratory diseases for 54,671 or 2*96 per mille ; dysentery for
40,781 or 2 - 21 per mille; plague for 27,345 or l s 48 per mille j small-pox for 2,526 or ‘14 per
mille; and cholera for 1,759 or -09 per mille. Injuries caused 7,109 deaths or *38 per mille and
other causes 124,275 or 6*72 per mille. The number of deaths from plague was less by 66,264
than in 1907 and less by 117,000 than the mean for the five years 1903-1907. Compared
with the previous year aud the mean for five years deaths from cholera showed a decrease o^
5,897 and 13,071 respectively.
2- Emigration and Immigration.
1. The only permanent shifting of population consisted in the immigration of 2^ families
from Bhavnagar into Kaira in order to take up waste lands in the district. With this accession
the number of families which had so settled up to the end of the year amounted to ^ o.
Beyond this the only movements were those of labour, which have become more oi less steieo
typed in many districts but are always purely temporary and each year reflect the character o
the season. The cotton-picking season and the wheat harvest in Gujarat attracted the customary
influx of labourers from the neighbouring districts and Native States, while t e ginning
factories of Ahmedabad provided the usual seasonal employment. The Deccan an^ t el izam s
Dominions supply labour for tbe cotton factories in Khandesh, where the immigration, owever,
was somewhat restricted by the poorness of the crop in the year under ieview. lt j m
Ahmednagar District labour distributed itself as usual to Bombay, Poona, t e mars an
Khdodesh, and as in the previous year found its way in c inside:able quantities to e 0 . aV p
Caral Works, Owing to the failure of the rabi crops there was an inciease,. c emanc o
employment in the sugarcane-crushing works in the Poona District, and foi e
kll advantage was taken of the opening for labour provided by the Govemmen an A
avoiLs in progress in Ndsik. The principal movement of labour, however, was " ,,
emigration of workers from the Dec. an and Konkan Districts into Bombay, wheie
employment afforded by the Mills, Docks, etc., proved even more attractive than usual u
e influence of the unfavourable season. Ratnagiri again sent out near y a 9 U ^
o e population in search of work, while the emigration of labour was one o e Pana l-
f f) saved Bijdpur from the necessity of relief works. In Sind agricuRura! and canal
froaVlf 0 P eTa ti°iis create a demand for labour which is supplied by Km c is an •
flurh! i? ne Side and b y Dathans ^om tbe other. The influx of the former showed an increase
an j be but Upper Sind was deserted by some Marwfiris who had orm y g
°' v lelu tned on account of the good rains in their own country.
b 1023—23