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GRANT OF LOANS AND ADVANCES TO AGRICULTURISTS. 



and that, if the amounts required cannot be provided from general 

 revenues, some arrangement should be made under which the money 

 could be obtained from loan funds, as for expenditure which will 

 be essentially productive, and which will all be eventually recouped. 

 These conditions will not apply to expenditure, incurred on private 

 irrigation works, which cannot properly be met from loan funds ; but 

 we suggest for consideration that expenditure of this kind should be 

 recorded under a new head, as grants-in-aid for private agricultural 

 works, and should be chargeable against the famine grant, or, in other 

 words, should be met from that portion of the grant which would 

 otherwise be shown as applied for the reduction or avoidance of debt. 

 We think that any expenditure which will tend to increase the 

 protective efficiency of private works is as legitimate a charge against 

 the famine grant as expenditure on non-productive irrigation works, 

 and may be justified on the same ground that it will tend to reduce 

 the amount of future charges for actual famine relief, and is a better 

 insurance against the cost of famine than a corresponding reduction 

 in the public debt. 



213. In order, then, to secure that continuity of policy and action 

 which we have recommended, we further suggest that Local Govern- 

 ments and Administrations should be invited to submit estimates of the 

 full amounts which they can distribute over a series of years, not less 

 than five ; and that they should be given regular annual allotments up 

 to which they should be expected to work. Failure to do so should be 

 explained, but should not be made the ground for diminution of the 

 allotments during the remainder of the period, unless the local 

 authorities convince the Supreme Government that experience already 

 gained has demonstrated the impracticability of spending up to 

 them. Similarly, heads of districts and divisions should get for a 

 term of years regular allotments based upon carefully framed 

 estimates of requirements. The fixing of allotments, however, should 

 not exclude the grant of special additional allotments on good cause 

 shown. Allotments to provinces, or parts of provinces, unaffected by 

 famine have sometimes been curtailed in order to satisfy the demand 

 in affected localities. Such curtailments should be avoided, if at all 

 possible, with due regard to financial exigencies. Any check to the steady 

 development of private improvements by means of advances is likely to 

 have serious and permanent effect on the zeal of Local Governments 

 and officials on which the success of the system so largely depends. 



