§ MR. C. E. PRICEI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India what is the present position of the scheme for the improvement of Calcutta; whether the Committee which has been lately discussing the question in Calcutta was entirely composed of members of the Indian Civil Service and held its meetings in private; and, if so, whether, seeing that the bulk of the cost will have to be met by the residents of the city, it is intended to permit them to have an opportunity of expressing their views before the scheme is finally sanctioned.
§ MR. MORLEYI understand that the opinions of the Calcutta Corporation and other local bodies on the provisional improvement scheme are under the consideration of the Government of Bengal. 261 I have seen a statement in the Calcutta papers that in February last the Lieutenant-Governor convened an informal conference to consider the subject, in which the Government of India, the Bengal Government, the Corporation of Calcutta, and the mercantile community were represented. I have no knowledge of any other Committee. I cannot say at this stage what steps will be taken to consult the public on the conclusions which may be finally arrived at by the Government of Bengal, but public criticism of the provisional scheme was invited in 1905.