Oral Answers to Questions — India. – in the House of Commons am ar 28 Gorffennaf 1924.
asked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether, now that the Viceroy has called a conference of the provincial governors at Simla at the end of this month to discuss the administration of the various Provinces, the question of the advisability of suspending the Legislative Assembly and all provincial councils, and not only the Central Provinces Council, will be discussed as well as the proposals contained in paragraph 245 of the Report on Indian Constitutional Reforms for the sub-division of existing provinces into smaller areas on a linguistic or racial basis?
I have no knowledge of any general conference for the purposes indicated. The Government of India Act does not provide for the suspension of Legislatures. As regards the subdivision of Provinces, I invite the hon. and gallant Member's attention to my answer to his question of the 30th June.
In the first place, has not the Central Provinces Council been suspended, and, in the second place, does not the hon. Gentleman consider that provinces of 30, 40 and 50 million people are too large for effective administration?
Again I should like to draw the hon. Baronet's attention to the discussion of this matter in the Report.
What about the suspension of the Central Provinces Council?