§ SIR W. WEDDERBURNI beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whe- 352 ther he has received any proposals from the Government of India for revising the Rules relating to Exchange Compensation Allowance; whether he will consider the propriety of making a distinction, as regards the rate of compensation, between officials who joined the Service some time ago, when exchange was high, and those who joined recently when exchange was low; whether, if compensation is continued, he will extend the benefits to all, of whatever race, who have to make family remittances to England; and whether he will discontinue compensation except on amounts so remitted?
§ MR. H. H. FOWLERNo proposals have been received from the Government of India for revising the Rules relating to Exchange Compensation Allowance. That allowance is based on the principle that, in the case of officers who have a European domicile, one-half of their salary up to a certain limit shall be paid at the rate of 18 pence per rupee. The Government of India do not propose to make a distinction between the officers according to the date when they joined the Service. The Government has no longer anything to do with family remittances to England, which are a purely private affair of the officers. Consequently, compensation cannot be given to officers who have not a European domicile, merely because they make family remittances; nor can it be discontinued because such remittances are not made.