§ 65. Mr. WELLOCKasked the Under-Secretary of State for India if any changes have taken place in the basis of payment to the Indian Exchequer by the Indian zemindars under the land settlement of 1793; and, in case such changes have taken place, whether he can give a record of them?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (Earl Winterton)In 1793, a Bengal Regulation was enacted giving the force of law to the following declaration:
The Governor-General in Council accordingly declares to the Zemindars, independent Talookdars, and other actual proprietors of land, with or on behalf of whom a settlement has been concluded under the Regulations above-mentioned [namely, the Regulations for the decennial settlement of the public revenues of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa passed in 1789 and 1790] that, at the expiration of the term of the settlement, no alteration will be made in the assessment which they have respectively engaged to pay, but that they, and their heirs and lawful successors, will be allowed to hold their estates at such assessments for ever.That Regulation is still in force.
§ 66. Mr. WELLOCKasked the Under-Secretary of State for India what was the total annual income of the Indian zemindars 576 and the total sum they paid to the Indian Exchequer at the time the permanent land settlement was made in 1793, and at some recent date?
§ Earl WINTERTONThe total sum paid in 1793 as land revenue by the zemindars affected by the permanent settlement of that year (i.e., the zemindars of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) was about Rs.2,85,90,000, and in 1925–26 was Rs.3,11,37,819. My Noble Friend has no information regarding their total annual income.