§ MR. WEIRTo ask the Secretary of State for India, if he will state what steps have been taken with a view to the establishment of agricultural banks in the various districts of India; have any such banks yet been established; and, if so, will he say where.
(Answered by Secretary Lord. George Hamilton.) The Government of India appointed a Committee to examine and report on various schemes for establishing a general system of agricultural banks. The Committee reported in the autumn of 1901, and its recommendations are under consideration by the Government of India in communication with the local governments. Agricultural banks have been experimentally started in several districts in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh; but I have no statistics on the subject, nor can I say what action has been taken to establish such banks in other provinces in advance of the general scheme.