§ MR. HART-DAVIES (Hackney, N.)To ask the Secretary of State for India whether his attention has been called to the present financial position of the Bombay Government, owing to a recurrence of famine years; and whether he will in future Provincial Settlements consider whether some arrangement would be devised by which the additional expenditure on account of local famines could be borne either by the Government of India, or by increased special allotments of the Provincial Governments.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Morley.) The hon. Member will see from the Report (appended to the Financial Statement recently presented to Parliament) of the Proceedings of the Governor-General's Council on the 28th of March that the question raised by him was then discussed at some length, and that Mr. Baker, the member in charge of the Finance Department, stated that it is the intention of the Government of India to examine the matter thoroughly. I shall no doubt receive a communication 1347 on the subject from the Government of India, and it will have my careful consideration.