HC Deb 28 November 1927 vol 211 cc8-9
22. Mr. THURTLE

asked the Under-Secretary of State for India the number of families or of individuals who have left India in connection with the Government of India's scheme for the colonisation of the Andaman Islands by Moplah families?

Earl WINTERTON

The colonisation scheme applied to the families of convicts already in the Andamans and to any convicts in Indian jails who might wish for transfer thither. According to figures available in March last the number of women and children who were conveyed to the Andamans at the expense of Government was 338 and 510 respectively and 41 convicts in Madras jails had elected for transfer. Some Karen families from Burma have also been settled in the islands, but I cannot give figures as to these.