Mr. KELLYasked the Under-Secretary of State for India whether the Secretary of State had, on 15th March, 1910, a copy of the memorial resolved upon unanimously at the meeting of the medical profession, held on 8th September, 1909, under the auspices of the Bombay Medical Union; what is the cause of the delay in the transmission of the memorial to the Secretary of State by the Government of Bombay; whether he can say when it is likely to reach him; and when he proposes to give a reply to it?
§ Mr. MONTAGU:No copy of the memorial referred to has yet been received from India. The Secretary of State has no information as to the cause of delay in its transmission, but will inquire.
Mr. KELLYasked whether the higher grades of the Civil Medical Service in British India are still filled by the military officers of the Indian Medical Service; whether similar posts in the Native States are efficiently held by Indian civil doctors on comparatively small salaries; and whether, in view of the fact that these military medical officers holding civil appointments form no war reserve, as, except for a few who are called to the front, they are usually left in their places in time of war, and are thus really recruited to hold civil posts to the exclusion of Indian civil medical practitioners, he will give instructions that no competitive examinations for the Indian Medical Service be held for the present, as the existing number is in excess of that necessary for the medical needs of Indian troops in time of peace and war?
§ Mr. MONTAGU:I must ask the hon. Member to refer to the replies that have been made to numerous questions on the subject in this Session and in the last Parliament, and to the Papers referred to by me in my answer of 16th March.