§ Mr. L. SCOTTasked the Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that numbers of Indian Civil Servants and other persons who have been employed in the service of the State for some years in India without an opportunity of coming home are now unable, on being granted leave, to secure a passage to this country; and what steps are being taken in the matter?
§ Mr. MONTAGUI would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to a similar question on 29th March. Since then, however, the figures of accommodation available for military non-entitled and civilian passengers have been modified by a considerable increase in the number of military entitled passengers to be provided for. While the total number of berths available over and above those provided by the ordinary liners remains as given in that answer, the number of such berths available for military non-entitled and civilian passengers is 2,900. At the request of the Government of India, I asked the Ministry of Shipping whether it would be possible to provide another 500 berths for such passengers, an addition which, in the opinion of the Government of India, would meet the needs of all the remaining civilians and non-entitled military passengers urgently requiring passages before the Monsoon sets in. But I understand that this is impossible.