43. Sir HERBERT ROBERTSasked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that in 1907 the Government of India recommended to the local government the introduction of suitable temperance teaching in schools; whether he is aware that the Secretary of State for India, in his dispatch to the Governor-General of India in Council, dated 29th May, 1914, suggested the adaptation of the syllabus of the Board of Education in England for this purpose; and whether he can state what steps have been taken in each of the major provinces of India to carry out this recommendation?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for INDIA (Mr. Chamberlain)My information is to the effect that on receipt of Lord Crewe's Excise dispatch of 29th May, 1915, the Government of India requested local governments to give effect to the suggestion referred to by the right hon. Member, and that in Bombay, Madras, and Bengal the Education Department has been called upon by the local government to submit proposals. I presume that similar steps have been taken in other provinces. I will ask the Government of India to see that the action taken in each province is noticed in the next Provincial Excise Reports.