§ Sir C. YATEasked the Secretary of State for India what are the steps that have been taken by the Punjab and other 2078W Governments in India in which the council have refused to sanction the Budget grant for the publicity department to supply the public with accurate information?
§ Mr. MONTAGUThe only provinces in which the councils have refused provision for publicity departments are Bengal and the Punjab. In Bengal, according to my information, the work was only in the experimental stage; in that province the Press is active and all shades of opinion are represented in it. I presume that the procedure as to communiqués and information to the Press is now as it was before the experiment was started. In the Punjab the provision was disallowed only on the 12th March, and a week later the Legislative Council voted a sum sufficient to wind up the Publicity Board with due notice to those employed in it. The Government is itself issuing communiqués.