§ 6 and 7. Mr. BROADasked the Under-Secretary of State for India (1) whether he can state how far effect has been given to the recommendations of Lord Inchcape's Committee on Retrenchment to reduce the number of Army hospitals and the number of beds in those which are retained; and whether any and, if so, what reduction has been made in the hospital staffs as recommended by that Committee?
(2) whether, seeing that the Inchcape Retrenchment Committee reported that British hospitals in India are not used to a quarter of their capacity and Indian hospitals only to a third of their capacity, and that they made recommendations for the reduction of the number of hospitals, beds and staffs, he will state whether any action was taken on these recommendations; and what is the financial saving in consequence?
§ Mr. RICHARDSAs the reply is somewhat long, and includes a statistical table, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the 'OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the answer:
§ Action taken on proposals of the Indian Retrenchment Committee regarding Medical Services and Hospitals.
850§ The number of beds in the British and Indian station hospitals has been reduced by the amounts shown below:
| British Station Hospital. | Indian Station Hospital. | ||
| Northern Command | … | 1,016 | 1,180 |
| Southern Command | … | 466 | 582 |
| Eastern Command | … | 331 | 184 |
| Western Command | … | 83 | 95 |
| Burma District | … | 61 | — |
§ A reduction of 15 officers of the Indian Medical Service has been carried out, and the services of 60 Assistant Surgeons are being dispensed with. A saving of Rs. 5 lakhs was anticipated from these reductions, but the actual net saving is not yet known.