§ Sir J. D. REESasked the Under-Secretary of State for India the conditions of service, pay, and pensions in the Indian educational service; whether the pensions and average rates of pay in this service are lower than in any other of the Imperial services of India; whether, as a consequence of this, the service is regarded as an inferior branch of the public service; and whether, in view of the importance of securing the best possible men from our universities for the work of education in India, the Secretary of State will take steps to render that service more attractive?
§ Mr. HAROLD BAKERThe conditions of service, pay, and pension in the Indian educational service are published in the annual India Office List. The ordinary scale of pay is Rs. 500 a month, rising by increments of Rs. 50 to Rs. 1,000 a month. There are, in addition, certain junior allowances of Rs. 200 to Rs. 250, and senior allowances of Rs. 250 to Rs. 500. Directors160W of Public Instruction receive pay ranging from Rs. 250 to Rs. 2,500 a month. The pension rules are, with an important exception in favour of this Department, the ordinary rules for pension in civil departments other than the Covenanted Civil Service. Indian Educational Service Officers are, exceptionally, allowed to reckon as service for superannuation pension the number of completed years (up to five) by which their age at appointment exceeded twenty-five years. An Indian Educational Service Officer becomes eligible for a pension on completing thirty years' qualifying service or on attaining the age of fifty-five. The maximum amount of pension for twenty-five years' service or upwards is Rs. 5,000 a year. Directors of Public Instruction who have rendered not less than three years' approved service in that office are eligible for an additional pension of Rs.1,000 a year. Invalid pensions are on the ordinary scale, one-sixtieth of average emolument3 (subject to prescribed maxima) being granted for each year of service up to twenty-four, and half average emoluments (subject to a maximum of Rs. 5,000) for twenty-five years upwards. The Secretary of State fully realises the importance of attracting the best class of recruits. The initial pay of the service is exceptionally high, and the terms of pension identical, subject to the advantage as to reckoning years for service described above, with those existing in all other Imperial civil departments (other than I the Indian Civil Service); except that members of three departments can retire voluntarily after twenty-five years' service on full pension—a privilege not possessed by the generality of civil departments. There is no reason to suppose that the Indian Educational Service is regarded as an inferior branch of the public service, but an examination of the conditions of service in this and other civil departments is covered by the terms of reference to the Royal Commission recently appointed.