§ Mr. MALLALIEUasked the Secretary of State for War if he will favourably consider the claims for demobilisation of numbers of men in the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force who were detailed to Poona early in November to assist in clearing up the field accounts of the troops; is he aware that they were told the duration of the work would be from three to five months; that there seems no probability of it being completed for a long time; and that many of these men have served since the commencement of the War and belong to groups which have been demobilised; and that these men, having no unit in India, cannot be recalled to Mesopotamia by their unit, and so have no hope of being demobilised?
§ Mr. FISHERThe prompt settlement of the accounts of a large number of officers1404W and men on demobilisation depends on the trained personnel of the Military Accounts Department being kept up to full strength. The Secretary of State for India cannot press the Government of India to a course of action that would destroy the efficiency of the Department, but subject to this he will bring the case of the men in question to their notice.