HC Deb 13 May 1915 vol 71 c1822
83. Sir PHILIP MAGNUS

asked the Under - Secretary of State for India whether he can give the House any information as to the number of Germans in India who now hold Government contracts or are employed in any capacity by the Government?

Mr. C. ROBERTS

The Secretary of State has no detailed information on the subject. The general condition of admission to Government service in India is, with one or two exceptions, that the candidate must be a British subject. In many important Departments there is the further condition that the candidate must be a natural-born British subject and that at the time of his birth his father must have been a British subject, either natural-born or naturalised. As stringent measures have to be taken by the Indian Government to put an end to trading in India by firms or companies containing a hostile element and to intern enemies' subjects, it is highly improbable that any German subject now holds a Government contract in India.