§ Mr. REESasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether any authentic records exist of famines in India and the resulting loss of life in periods prior to British rule; and whether there are any records showing that systematic efforts were made to mitigate these visitations?
The MASTER of ELIBANKThere is a certain amount of information on record about famines and famine mortality in pre-British India, but it is of a general and not of a statistical character. In the conditions then prevailing systematised relief, as now administered in India, was not practicable.