§ [The question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government for information as to the famine situation in India and the steps being taken to meet it.]
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA AND BURMA (THE EARL OF MUNSTER)My Lords, the food situation in India, 793 difficult as it is, is not a famine situation. There is a shortage which affects only the urban areas and a few rural areas. At first the difficulties which arose were mainly those of transportation and these were aggravated by the disturbances which occurred in the latter part of last summer. Previous to this, however, there was the loss of the Burma rice crop and later supplies of food grains were affected by a flood in Sind, by cyclones in Orissa, and by a serious failure of the millet crop in certain parts of the country, due to lack of rain in the autumn. Accompanying these causes of deficiency was the increased demand for feeding the Army. The Government of India, in an announcement which your Lordsips may have seen, made public on Monday, have made it clear that the present acute shortage of wheat in the areas where it exists and the stringency, not of quite the same order, in other grains, are due mainly to the hoarding of stocks by producers, dealers and consumers alike. They are satisfied that if these stocks can be got on to the market and distributed fairly between the ultimate consumers, there is little danger of the people of India having to put up with any serious reduction in their normal requirements. The possibility of individual rationing in urban areas is being examined and preparatory measures are already in train in some of the cities. But the administrative difficulties of rationing in a country such as India are obviously great.
As to the steps being taken to meet the situation, the Government of India have established a Food Department, have removed the statutory maximum price for wheat formerly imposed and are setting up agencies to purchase supplies in surplus areas for the needs of other parts of India. They have also arranged with His Majesty's Government for the provision of shipping for the import of substantial quantities of wheat to arrive within the next two or three months. This wheat, on arrival, is to be allocated by orders of Government to the various deficit areas where it will be distributed under Government supervision to the final consumers.
LORD FARINGDONArising out of the question, may I ask the noble Earl whether I am to conclude that, with the removal of the maximum wheat price, the price of grain will also rise, or will that be controlled?
§ THE EARL OF MUNSTERI should like notice of that question.