§ MR. LAIDLAWI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India, if, in view of the fact that the irrigation works in India are now yielding a return of over 7¾ per cent, on the outlay, he will draw the attention of the Government of India to the matter, with a view to reductions in the charges being made to cultivators in cases whore they are exceptionally high.
MR. MOELEYThe charges made to cultivators for supplies of water from State Irrigation Works are fixed after careful local inquiry as to the profits of irrigation in the district, and ordinarily are below the economic value of the water to the cultivator. The selling value of land consequently goes up in canal tracts to the benefit of the private owner. I hardly think it necessary to bring the matter to the notice of the Government of India.