§ 2. Sir J. JARDINEasked the Secretary of State for India if he can give any 2124 information anent the action of landowners in the district of Tanjore as to the ejectment of their panchama tenants and the means taken by the Government of Madras to settle the disputes arising there from; whether the Government intends to purchase house sites and hand them over on some co-operative arrangement to these tenants; what are the conditions of the scheme; and who are the officers that will carry it out?
§ Mr. PRATTThe Secretary of State has no detailed information, but he understands that for the better protection of tenants of the panchama or pariah caste, whose claims to the sites of their houses were contested by the landlords, the Madras Government proposes to acquire the sites under the Land Acquisition Act and to hand them over to applicants on payment. In each village the applicants are to be jointly and severally responsible for the sums due. A special officer of the Provincial Service has been deputed to work out the details of a scheme on these lines.