§ DR. TANNER (Cork Co., Mid)asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether the Surgeons in the Army Medical Department, in accordance with the Indian Army Regulations, although wearing the badges of Captain, only rank with a Lieutenant for the first five or six years of his service, and draw the allowance granted to the lower grade; whether their pay amounts, for the stated period, to 317 rupees per month, and whether this amount is 132 rupees less than the pay of a regimental Captain; whether, after serving five years at home, the pay of a Sur- 784 geon is increased by £50 per annum, equivalent to 58 rupees per month, and whether it is a fact that, while in India, he only receives a corresponding addition of 18 rupees per month; and, what steps will be taken to redress these grievances, which are popularly spoken of as tending to make the Army Medical Department unpopular?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)(who replied) said: The uniform of the Army Medical Department is not prescribed by Indian Regulations. Surgeons rank with Captains in India, as elsewhere. They draw in India a higher rate of pay and allowances than Lieutenants. To the second and third Questions I answer Yes. But after six years a Surgeon's pay is increased by 116 rupees a month, and is more than a Captain's. The Secretary of State does not consider that there is any necessity for changing the present rates of Indian pay of the Army Medical Department.