§ 17. Sir REGINALD CRADDOCKasked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the Government of India has recently enjoined Government servants on foreign service, including those serving in Indian States, to make a voluntary offer to their foreign employers to submit themselves to the emergency cuts imposed upon the services generally in British India; if so, does the instruction also apply to cases in which foreign employers or Indian states are not suffering under a financial emergency, have not imposed cuts upon their own servants, and have no desire to impose cuts upon the pay of Government officers whose services have been lent to them; and, if so, whether, in view of the promises made by the Government to Parliament that 873 cuts would only be imposed under grave financial emergency, he will have these orders reconsidered?
§ Sir S. HOAREThese instructions, which have been issued by the Government of India in the exercise of their discretion, have already been brought to my notice. Although, as my hon. Friend surmises, their application does not in terms depend on the financial condition of the State in which the Government servants in question are employed, I think it may be assumed that the condition of financial stringency prevails generally.