MR. HERBERT ROBERTSI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether, in view of the congested condition of the towns suffering from plague, 1127 he will invite the Government of India to give out building sites in healthy localities on easier terms to the poorer classes, and reduce the fees on timber and other building materials.
§ * MR. BRODRICKIn Bombay and Calcutta, where the question of congestion is most serious, the Government is actively promoting the provision of additional building accommodation for the poorer classes. Elsewhere such overcrowding as exists is due to the habits and predilections of the people rather than to the absence of building land or dearness of materials. In plague-smitten localities assistance to move is often offered to the inhabitants, but is not infrequently refused.