To the forceful and illuminating speech which my honourable Friend Gopinath Bardoloi delivered in presenting the other day a doleful picture of the province of Assam, I have very little to add. Mr. Nichols Roy also followed suit and completely proved to the House that unless something is done to improve the finances of the province of Assam, the crash may come at any moment. The amount which is said to be in deficit is, I am prepared to say, far more than what we, expect after a close examination. My Honourable Friends in this House, will be, I hope, pleased to remember that Assam is a province of India. Having an area of nearly fifty thousand square miles and with a population of 74 or 75 lakhs. The revenue of the province is only Rs. 31/2crores and with the assistance they get from the Government of India, the total income at the present moment is Rs. 5 crores. I will ask the honourable Members of this House to consider that under the present circumstances, when the price of everything is on the rise, is it possible with this fund to run an administration of such a vast area and with such a mixed population of all kinds? Is it possible to carry on the administration and to improve it on such a slender income as we now obtain from the province? I would ask the honourable Members of the House, as I have asked the people of my province to consider for a moment, whether it would be of any use to carry on the province as a part of the Government of India? I ask the other people in other provinces to consider whether they should carry this rotten limb of India or, whether they should not-if they have any sympathy for that province-forego a little of their own income and to give that province a larger share of the income which the Government of India derives, and repair the rotten limb? If they are unwilling to do it, it is better that the limb is amputated so that that limb may not affect the rest of the provinces of India. That is for this House to consider.
