§ CAPTAIN PIRIE (Aberdeen, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India if he can explain how it is that the examination which an ordinary Indian regimental officer has to pass before he is eligible to become a squadron or wing commander in his regiment is, according to the Indian Regulations, a sufficient qualification for employment on the Staff, while under the Queen's Regulations such a qualification does not suffice; and whether it is the case that, in consequence of the regulations prevailing in India, the names of no fewer than 200 officers in the Punjab Command alone are now registered for appointment to the post of Deputy Assistants Adjutant General?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON, Middlesex, Ealing)The examination which an officer has to pass before he is eligible for a wing or squadron command is that required of a captain for promotion to the rank of major, and this is considered in India a sufficient qualification for certain Staff appointments; I have no information as to the statement in the last part of the hon. Member's Question.