§ 32. Mr. Peter Freemanasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether a policy for food and agriculture has been adopted for India to meet the present crisis what are its principal objectives and methods; and to what extent it is being subsidised by the Indian or British Governments to avoid further starvation.
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§ Mr. A. HendersonYes, Sir. Energetic steps in hand include ever stricter measures for the procurement of indigenous food; the extension of rationing to urban and rural areas hitherto unrationed; and a cut in the cereal ration from 16 oz. to 12 oz. a day, the encouragement of the growing of short-term crops; and the subsidising by the Government of India of schemes of irrigation, drainage and anti-erosion in order to bring additional land under food cultivation.