§ 49. Mr. Spencerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the level of aid being directed to Gujarat in India.
§ Mr. Chris PattenWe have provided £43 million for fertiliser plants at Hazira in Gujarat and we are providing £2 million for the integrated rural development project in Anand. In addition, under the joint funding scheme, we are supporting about 30 voluntary agency projects in Gujarat, most of which are concerned with primary health care.
§ Mr. SpencerIs my hon. Friend aware that many thousands of my constituents have relatives and friends in 688 Gujarat and that their main concern is for the severe drought there, the effects of which I saw when I visited Gujarat in December? Can my hon. Friend assure the House that he will take that natural disaster fully into account when assessing the level of our aid to India?
§ Mr. PattenI know how concerned and knowledgeable my hon. and learned Friend is about Gujarat. I am also, of course, aware of the two-year drought which has affected part of that state. We hope that the worst is now over. We have made over £100,000 available to Oxfam's programme for drought relief in Gujarat and Rajasthan. I congratulate the Indian Government on their efforts to deal with these severe problems.
§ Mr. JannerI associate myself with what the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, South (Mr. Spencer) said, because on my many visits to India I have seen enormous hardship and suffering. What are the Minister's plans for increasing aid to a part of the world which is still suffering so badly?
§ Mr. PattenOur aid programme is agreed with the Indian Government, not with individual states.