INDIA (DISTRIBUTION OF REVENUES) (Hansard, 22 March 1944)

§ The Secretary of State for India (Mr. Amery)
I beg to move, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, in pursuance of the provisions of Section 309 of the Government of India Act, 5935, praying that the Government of India (Distribution of Revenues) (Amendment) Order, 1944, be made in the form of the draft laid before Parliament. A very few words will be necessary for me to explain the purpose of this Order.
1003 It is to give statutory confirmation to a financial agreement recently arrived at between the Central Government of India and the Government and Province of Sind. Under what is called the Niemeyer Award, Sind, a relatively poor Province, was to receive a grant-in-aid up to 1982, which at present stands at 105 lacs, which is something near £800,000, and will eventually taper down to half that amount. On the other hand, the Government of Sind owes the Central Government a sum now standing at about 16,000,000 in respect of that magnificent enterprise, the Lloyd Barrage, which was due to the vision and tireless energy of the late Lord Lloyd, and under which an area previously desert, will, eventually, be cultivated to an extent as great as the whole cultivated area of Egypt. In that case, as it was assumed that the official revenue of the Province of Sind from the sale of land and from increased land revenue would to begin with be small but would gradually increase, payments were to be on a gradually increasing scale. That calculation has been falsified by events. The prices of agricultural produce have been good; the land has been in great demand, and both land sales and revenue have brought in far more money than is required for the stipulated scale of payments. Accordingly, the Government of Sind offered to liquidate the whole business by subtracting the total amount of debt from the capitalised value of the total amount of grants-in-aid due up to 1982, and to pay the difference off in cash here and now. In so far as under the Act of 1935 the Central Government are under the statutory obligation to go on paying the grant-in-aid up to 1982, the confirmation of this House is required in the shape of the present Order to enable this satisfactory private deal to be carried through.

§ Mr. Pethick-Lawrence (Edinburgh East)
The statement that the right hon. Gentleman has made is clear. It is a thoroughly sensible arrangement, and I am sure the House will agree to the passage of this proposal.

§ Mr. Edmund Harvey (Combined English Universities)
We are indebted to the Secretary of State for India for the very valuable explanation which he has given. I wish we had an opportunity, however, when such an important Order comes before the House, of a little more explanation. The actual draft that we 1004 have would be quite unintelligible to most hon. Members, but I took the trouble to look up the original Order. It is complicated, and I think it would be of great help in the future, in the case of a draft of this kind, if we could have an explanation of it. In another place there is a Select Committee on matters concerning India and Burma, which examines all those Orders, and makes reports. In this case, they have made a report in which they say that the Order raises matters of importance and calls attention to them. If we had some such procedure it would be a great convenience. I am sure that the House is in agreement with what the Secretary of State has said, and I do not wish to raise the least opposition to the Motion.

§ Mr. Amery
I will bear in mind the suggestion which the hon. Member has made.

§ Mr. Petherick (Penryn and Fahnouth)
Despite the low mutterings of the Government Whips, I would like to support what my hon. Friend has just said. I do not in the least object to the Order, but I think it most important that these Orders should receive proper attention and proper explanation. I commend my hon. Friend's remarks that we should have a Select Committee similar to that which exists in another place.