§ COLONEL SYKESasked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether Doctors Gopal Chunder Roy and Krishna Dhurr Ghose, who came to England to compete for commissions in the Medical Service in India, and have obtained the prescribed degrees in medicine and surgery, but are debarred from reaping the reward of their studies and outlay by the competitive competitions being from time to time postponed on the ground of medical officers not being required in India may, nevertheless, be allowed to compete with a view to their being placed on a supernumerary list to fill up vacancies as they occur, to avoid otherwise the total and grievous loss to them of their time and money, as their present ages would debar them from competing at any future examinations?
MR. GRANT DUFFI regret, sir, that we have no powers to do what my hon. and gallant Friend wishes. When the Government of India informs us that it wants such and such a number of medical officers, we announce that such and such a number will be selected by competitive examination, but we cannot 156 ask some score or hundred medical students to enter for a competitive examination, in which the prize would be the chance that the successful candidates might at some indefinite future period be employed as Indian medical officers. I do not think that would be a fair proceeding either to the medical schools or to the Government of India.
§ COLONEL SYKESasked when the next competition would be held.