§ MR. KIMBER (Wandsworth)To ask the Secretary of State for India whether he has any official information showing that the economic condition of the people of Kythal in the Punjab (the population of which in 1844 was estimated at 150,000 inhabitants) has under British administration deteriorated; and can he state the number of deaths by famine during the last four years in the Kythal Tehsil of district Kurnal; and what
† See (4) Debates lxxxvi., 230.1145 material advantages have accrued to the people of Kythal by their transfer in 1843 from native to British rule.(Answered by Secretary Lord George Hamilton.) The Kurnal district, in which Kythal is situate, has no doubt suffered from drought of recent years, but I am satisfied that the economic condition of the people has materially improved since 1843. I would refer the hon. Member to the remarks made by Mr. Denzil Ibbetson, member of the Government of India, in the recent Budget debate in the Viceroy's Legislative Council, describing from his own personal knowledge the material advantages which have accrued to the people, and the progress made by the district, since it came under British rule, and especially since 1870. I have no record of any deaths from famine in Kythal during the last four years.