§ MR. REESI beg to ask the Under-secretary of State for India whether, in view of the fact that the object of the forest policy of the Government of India is the utilisation of forests for the benefit of the cultivating classes and not for the increase of the revenue by the sale of timber, further measures have been taken for the afforestation of waste lands; and, if the answer be in the affirmative, whether the result of such measures can be stated to the House.
§ MR. BUCHANANThe afforestation of waste lands for the benefit of the cultivating classes is one of the main duties of the Forest Department. The chapter on Forests in the Moral and Material Progress Statement for the decennial period ending 1901–2 deals fully with the progress made during that period, and more recent information is given in the Annual Statements for succeeding years. The Statement for 1906–7 was presented in May last.