§ THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY, in rising to ask the Secretary of State for India what steps had been taken to carry into effect the recommendations of the Indian Public Service Commission, said: It is now some months since the Report of this Commission on the Public Service in India was presented to Parliament, and I should hope that the Government would now be in a position to give us some information as to the conclusions at which they 110 have arrived upon the very important matters dealt with by the Commission.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (Viscount CROSS)I am very glad of the opportunity of answering the question. It is quite true that the Report of the Commission came to this country some time ago, but the observations of the Government of India upon that Report did not reach this country until the 29th of October, and as nothing could be done in the meantime, until those observations had reached me, I do not myself see how we could have taken further steps in the way of carrying out the recommendations. A Special Committee of the India Council has been appointed, who have the advantage of the services of Sir Charles Turner, who was a Member of the Commission, and is now a member of the Special Committee. That Committee have been considering the question very carefully since that time. I have made inquiries, and I find that I may expect a Report in a very short time, and no time will be lost in considering the nature of that Report, in order that some steps may be taken to see how the recommendations of the Committee can be carried out. No doubt the matter is one of extreme importance, but the Report of the Commission covers a very wide field.