§ Mr. JOHNSONasked the Secretary of State for India whether an order intimated to the Government of India in November, 1919, to take effect from the 6th November, 1919, directed that the normal scale of earnings of Bengal branch pilots should be fixed at Rs. 2,000 per month, and that this scale should be applicable for calculating leave allowances; and, if so, whether a Bengal branch pilot, now on leave in England, is therefore entitled, regard being had to the rule as to half-pay, to receive or be credited in respect of his period of leave with pay at the rate of Rs. 1,000 per month?
§ Mr. MONTAGUThe arrangement described in the first part of the question has been sanctioned. As, however, the leave pay of an officer is calculated on the average pay of the previous three years, and as prior to November 6th the monthly pay of a branch pilot was, for leave purposes, taken at Rs. 1,000, the concession will not become fully operative for some time. I have received representations as to the hardship involved by the strict application of the rule and am in communication with the Government of India as to the possibility of making the new rates retrospective.