§ MR. MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)asked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether members of the Uncovenanted Civil Service of India who are nominated by the Secretary of State for India as officers of the Public Works, Telegraph, and Forest Departments are allowed to count service for retirement on pension from the year they leave Cooper's Hill or other College, irrespective of age, whereas service before the age of 22 years, in the case of an Uncovenanted civilian appointed by the Governor General of India, is not permitted to count as service for retirement on pension; whether officers in the Administrative Departments of the Uncovenanted Civil Service of India have been placed, before the age of 22, in charge of Divisions of Districts, and in exercise of the powers of magistrates of the first class; did the Government of India in 1868 recommend that the limit of age for service counting for pension should be reduced; and did the then Secretary of State for India refuse to entertain it; and, on what principle is this distinction drawn between different members of the Uncovenanted Civil Service of India?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir JOHN GORST) (Chatham)The answer to Questions 1, 2, and 3 is affirmative. The principle of the distinction is that more favourable Pension Rules are given to Departments recruited in this country, for which special training is requisite.