HC Deb 06 April 1944 vol 398 cc2147-50
5. Mr. Sorensen

asked the Secretary of State for India if he is satisfied that adequate preparations have been made respecting the possibility of a recurrence of grave food shortage and famine; whether any official inquiry has been made respecting both a sufficient production of food and co-ordinated planning of distribution; and whether he could give an estimate respectively of the land likely to be under cultivation for food crops during the next two years and the gross amount of rice, millet, wheat, rye and other food crops aimed at during that period.

The Secretary of State for India (Mr. Amery)

As the reply is necessarily very long, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL. REPORT.

Mr. Sorensen

Could we have some assurance that the Minister is satisfied that adequate preparations for the future are being made, in view of the apprehension existing in some quarters.

Mr. Amery

The hon. Member will find that the statement I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT covers that and any other possible supplementary questions that he might ask.

Following is the information:

The principal causes underlying food shortage and distress in India, some of which cannot be remedied or controlled by any governmental authority, are as follow:

  1. (1) Imports of rice on which India formerly relied, as she does not normally produce enough foodgrains to feed her people, are now cut off.
  2. (2) The marketable surpluses of food-grains are produced by millions of small cultivators, and administrative machinery to secure complete control over these surpluses does not exist.
  3. (3) Crops are subject to the vagaries of the monsoon and to natural disasters of common occurrence in India and cannot be relied upon with any degree of certainty.
  4. (4) Increases in production arising from the "Grow More Food" campaign, etc., are counter-balanced by an increase of population at the rate of five million a year.
  5. (5) Shipping limitations have restricted imports, without which the Government of India are hampered in the building up of reserves wherewith to control prices at a sufficiently low level to bring foodgrains within the reach of the poorest.

The famine in Bengal last year was in large part due to crop failure and cyclones, and the record rice crop which has been harvested this year should preclude the possibility of a repetition of famine conditions in that Province. Although rice will be in short supply in Malabar, the Deccan and Bombay, no serious shortage is anticipated, but the millets and the wheat crop have been affected by disease and unseasonable rains and are disappointing. The situation depends largely on what proportion of the crops the Government of India can procure and distri- bute. Strict rationing has been applied to available supplies. The main measures which have been taken by the Government of India to control the situation are:

  1. (1) The introduction of food rationing in urban areas. Over 130 towns and cities with a total population of 25 millions are already rationed wholly or partially, and rationing schemes are progressing steadily.
  2. (2) The distribution of surplus food-grains is controlled under the Central Government's basic plan.
  3. (3) The arrangements which have been made by the Provincial Governments for purchase of foodgrains are being steadily improved.
  4. (4) Wheat, rice, millets, barley, and gram are subject to price control.
  5. (5) Improvements are being effected in the enforcement and operation of the Foodgrains Control Order within the limits of the capacity of the administrative machine.
  6. (6) Foodgrains are being imported on a substantial scale, though necessarily within the limits determined by shipping stringencies, and foodgrains reserve depots are being established.
  7. (7) Exports of foodgrains have been prohibited.
  8. (8) Suitable admixtures of other grains with wheat flour are being made.
  9. (9) Promotion of public confidence by extensive and increasing use of all suitable forms of publicity.

The Governor of Bengal in a broadcast on the 1st April to the people of Bengal has expressed his confident view of the outlook in that Province. The Government of India has undertaken to meet the foodgrains requirements on a ration basis of Calcutta and its suburbs for a period of 13 months in order to assist Bengal procurement notwithstanding the fact that statistically the province has a surplus this year. Procurement of rice surpluses is proceeding somewhat slowly under the deliberately cautious policy of the Provincial Government but is still influenced by lack of confidence due to last year's experience. Careful plans have been made for the storage and local distribution of foodgrains, and military assistance which gave invaluable help last year is still available.

As regards the all-India situation, the carrying out of the recommendations of the Foodgrains Policy Committee Report which covers all aspects of foodgrains production and distribution is part of the ordinary duty of the Food Departments of both the Central and Provincial Governments. The arrangements which have been and are being made for foodgrain procurement and distribution throughout India are under constant review and close scrutiny by the Central Government. Particular attention is directed to Bengal and the food plans of the Government of Bengal for procurement were made in consultation with the Central Government. The Provincial Governments with financial assistance from the Government of India where necessary have taken up a large number of schemes for increasing output per acre and total acreage under food crops and more such schemes will be taken up in future. Sanctioned schemes involve loans to cultivators, subsidies for diverting land from non-food crops to food crops, bringing under cultivation new areas, distribution of seeds and manure, and extension of facilities for irrigation. Apart from those schemes exclusively financed by Provincial Governments there are many schemes to which assistance is being given by the Government of India whose contribution to such schemes amounts to about two and a half crores of rupees in loans and one and a half crores in grants. The policy of giving such help will continue but in spite of the best efforts of the Government of India and those of Provincial Governments the Government of India do not consider the total amount of food-grains raised in the country provide an absolutely safe margin for meeting India's full requirements If weather conditions are unfavourable during periods of growth of food crops, shortages of food for the country as a whole are not beyond the bounds of possibility. The targets of acreage fixed for the year 1943/44 were rice 77.1, millets 38.2 and wheat 28.5 million acres. (Rye is not grown in India.) It is not likely that in the next two years there will be a any increase on these target acreages which have deliberately been fixed high in order to stimulate effort all round.