Figures are required to execute the policies in a way in which the state prepares the statistics of ‘progresses’. This is a form of ‘truth’ that is unquestionable and absolute to the administration. But often, the numbers are constructed, exaggerated and even invented, hiding the grim reality for the sake of upholding the achievements of a welfare state. Census has been one of the ‘scientific tools’ since the nineteenth century, by which the state retains its supervision over the population and preserves the information for future reference. Such process of institutionalising ‘truism’ would be considered as an ultimate solution of the problems that the enumerators encounter with the ‘infirm’. This article seeks to explore how far the enumerations had paved the way for resolving the issues regarding the ‘lepers’ and ‘deformity’ in colonial Bengal since 1891 when the decennial census was taken immediately after the death of Father Damien. The article also intends to problematise the notion on ‘diseased bodies’, that is, ‘lepers’ that the Raj tried to marginalise through census figures to protect the healthy populace from probable degeneration. Thus, it studies the leprosy and ‘lepers’ both by analysing the census and public health reports within the context of Empire and colonial Bengal.

中文翻译：

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从“枚举”数字中寻找“真相”：孟加拉殖民地人口普查和公共卫生报告中的麻风病：1890 年代至 1940 年代

需要数字以国家准备“进展”统计数据的方式执行政策。这是一种“真理”形式，对政府来说是不容置疑和绝对的。但通常，为了维护福利国家的成就，这些数字是虚构的、夸大的，甚至是虚构的，掩盖了严峻的现实。自 19 世纪以来，人口普查一直是“科学工具”之一，国家通过该工具保留对人口的监督并保存信息以备将来参考。这种将“真理”制度化的过程将被视为调查员与“体弱者”遇到的问题的最终解决方案。本文旨在探讨自 1891 年达米安神父去世后立即进行十年一次的人口普查以来，人口普查在多大程度上为解决孟加拉殖民地的“麻风病人”和“畸形”问题铺平了道路。这篇文章还打算对“病体”的概念提出问题，即“麻风病人”，拉吉试图通过人口普查数字将其边缘化，以保护健康人群免受可能的退化。因此，它通过分析帝国和孟加拉殖民地背景下的人口普查和公共卫生报告来研究麻风病和“麻风病人”。拉吉试图通过人口普查数字边缘化的“麻风病人”，以保护健康的民众免受可能的退化。因此，它通过分析帝国和孟加拉殖民地背景下的人口普查和公共卫生报告来研究麻风病和“麻风病人”。拉吉试图通过人口普查数字边缘化的“麻风病人”，以保护健康的民众免受可能的退化。因此，它通过分析帝国和孟加拉殖民地背景下的人口普查和公共卫生报告来研究麻风病和“麻风病人”。