§ Colonel YATEasked the Secretary of State for India for what reason departmental and warrant officers of the Indian unattached list are limited, under Army Instruction (India) No. 738, of 1920, to a maximum pension of £360 per annum, whereas under the Royal Warrant Army Order 324, of 1919, officers of a similar class in the British service are eligible to retire on a maximum pension of £435; and whether he will now place the departmental and warrant officers of the unattached list on the same footing as officers of the same class in the British service and grant them in addition the Indian element due to them for continued service in India?
§ Mr. MONTAGUThe revised rates of pensions for departmental officers and warrant officers of the Indian service were decided on after very careful consideration by the Government of India and at Home, and the rates represent an advance of about 60 per cent, over the pre-war rates. The conditions of service, rules of promotion and retirement in the Indian service differ so greatly 2125W from the rules applicable to quartermasters and warrant officers in the British service that any comparison is apt to be misleading, and although it may be possible in certain exceptional oases for a quartermaster in the British service to attain a higher rate of retired pay than a departmental officer in the Indian service, the average pension attainable by the Indian departmental officer or warrant officer under the revised rules is substantially higher than the average in the British service for corresponding classes. In these circumstances I do not propose to take the action suggested by the hon. and gallant Member.