§ SIR SEYMOUR KINGI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for India whether it is to be understood that the candidates, who are called for by the Secretary of State's announcement that 565 10 appointments to Assistant Inspectorships in the Indian Police will be filled up by open competition in June next, will be treated on the same footing as regards pay, pension, and furlough as men who are to be appointed in India by the Local Governments; how many of the latter it is intended to appoint; and whether the latter are to be Europeans, and are to pass any special examination before appointment in the subjects required by the notice issued by the Civil Service Commissioners; and, if not, why it is necessary that candidates from this country should pass examinations in literary and scientific subjects while others are selected in India by nomination?
MR. GEORGE RUSSELLThe candidates recruited in this country will be on the same footing as to pension and furlough as those recruited in India; their pay will be substantially similar, but at present the salaries of the latter vary in the different Provinces. The number of candidates to be nominated in India by the Local Governments will be fixed from time to time according to the requirements of the Service, and as yet the Secretary of State has no information as to the number to be thus appointed in any given year. They will have to pass a strict educational test, but the subjects of examination are not known in this country. The system of open competition for the recruitment in this country has been adopted, after careful consideration, and on the recommendation of the Government of India, as the best in the interest of the Public Service.