§ 19. Mr. S. O. Daviesasked the Secretary of State for India what are the numbers of unemployed men in India at present.
§ Mr. DaviesCannot the right hon. Gentleman give the House some figures, say to within the nearest million, out of the many millions who are known to be unemployed in India? Is it not a fact that the right hon. Gentleman's not being able to give me any information on this matter is dictated by the step that his Department has taken to drive women to work in coal mines in India, notwithstanding the large number of unemployed men?
§ Mr. AmeryMy Department has taken no such step at all. As a matter of fact, there are not millions of unemployed in India, because a very large part of the industrial population work, when not in employment, in their villages. Statistics of unemployment are kept, I imagine, by the Provinces, but there is no general figure of unemployment for the Continent of India.