§ Mr. REESasked the Under-Secretary of of State for India whether, with the exception of six appointments at the top,. the pay of the officers of the Superior Accounts Branch of the Public Works Department has either remained absolutely stationary during the past 38 years or been actually reduced, in spite of the fact 479 that the cost of living has increased enormously (fully 50 per cent.) in this time, and of the fact that the general benefits recently conferred on this ground in similarly recruited departments, e.g., finance, engineers, forest, educational, police, etc., have not been extended to the superior accounts officers, though their responsibilities also have largely increased with the general development of the country; and whether the officers in question have received any reply to a memorial submitted over a year ago to the Government of India praying for a redress of their grievances; and, if not, will the Secretary of State inquire into the cause of the delay and the reasonableness of the claims put forward?
§ Mr. BUCHANANI would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a similar question by the hon. Member for Cambridge University on the 30th ult. The Government of India will be asked for information on the subject.