§ MR. GIBSONasked the Under Secretary of State for India, What is the proportion of officers in the Administrative grade of the Indian Medical Department to that of the Executive grade; has the number of Administrative grade appointments been diminished within the last few years; has a recent alteration been made in the limit of age for compulsory retirement; and, has this checked promotion?
§ MR. J. K. CROSSMy reply is as follows:—(1.) The proportion is one Administrative officer to 27 Executive officers. (2.) In 1880, as shown in the Blue Book, 2,921 of 1881, page 283, there was a reduction of one Administrative officer. (3.) In 1880, the limits of age for compulsory retirement were fixed at 55 years for the new rank of brigade-surgeons and surgeons-major, and at 60 years for surgeons-general and deputy surgeons-general, instead of at 55 and 65 years respectively. (4.) The effect of lowering the age for compulsory retirement in the higher grades must be to quicken, not to retard, promotion.