§ Mr. O'GRADYasked the Secretary of State for India if he would state what had 1044 been, up to date, the charge upon the general revenues of India of the administrative division of Bengal?
§ The UNDERSECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (Mr. Montagu)The cost of dividing the province of Bengal and amalgamating a portion of it with Assam may roughly be taken to consist of: (1) Recurring expenditure involved in the substitution of a Lieutenant-Governor of Eastern Bengal and Assam for a Chief Commissioner in Assam, the appointment of a Board of Revenue and of additional secretaries and departmental and divisional officers, the increase of pay of certain officers whose duties were increased, and an increase in the accounts establishment of the new province. This expenditure, after allowing for certain consequential reductions in Bengal, amounts to about £45,000 a year; (2) Non-recurring expenditure on buildings and alterations to buildings at Dacca, Chittagong, and Shillong. These buildings are not yet complete, but the cost is estimated at £407,000.