§ On Tuesday, 21st February, 1922, Sir F. HALL asked the Secretary of State for India what is the number of applications for premature retirement which have up to the present been received from members of the Indian Civil Service; and what was the number of applications for posts in the Indian Service received from British subjects in the years 1913, 1914, 1919, 1920 and 1921, respectively?
§ Mr. MONTAGU,in reply, now circulated the following statement:
The figures asked for are given in the subjoined statement, which shows in columns 2 and 3 the number of candidates under the ordinary method of recruitment (i.e., open competitive examination held in conjunction with the examination for the Home Civil Service, Class I Appointments) and in columns 4 and 5 the number of candidates under the special method of recruitment established 1915W in pursuance of the Indian Civil Service (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1915, to meet the particular case of men who had served in His Majesty's Forces during the
NUMBER OF CANDIDATES FOR APPOINTMENT TO THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE. Year. Under the ordinary method of recruitment (i.e., Open Competitive Examination). Under the special method of recruitment (for Service candidates). Total number of Candidates under both methods. Europeans. Non-Europeans. Europeans. Non-Europeans. Europeans. Non-Europeans. 1913 … 138 25 Nil Nil 138 25 1914 … 157 26 Nil Nil 157 26 1919 … Nil 21 492 4 492 25 1920 … 1 22 312 28 313 50 1921 … 16 73 54 23 70 96 Total 1,170 222 In elucidation of the foregoing figures it may be explained that the special method of recruitment under the Act of 1915 was in effect a substitute for the open competition so far as candidates who had served in His Majesty's Forces were concerned, and was expressly designed to enable such candidates to be eligible for appointment to the Indian Civil Service without competitive examination. Authorised by Parliament in 1915 as a temporary method of recruitment to be brought into force on the termination of hostilities, it came into operation for the first time in 1919 as soon as the progress of demobilisation set free a sufficient number of service candidates. Under this method service candidates had to pass a qualifying test only and subsequently to appear before a selection board which recommended candidates to the Secretary of State for appointment, subject in the case of the younger men to a probationary course, the older men proceeding to India direct. 145 candidates (including one Indian) were selected under this method, of whom 114 have already been definitely appointed to the Service and proceeded to India, as I stated in my speech on the Amendment to the Address on the 14th February.
The comparatively small number of service candidates applying in 1921 was due to the fact that the great majority of such candidates had applied and had been dealt with in 1919 and 1920. Five qualifying examinations were held in the
1916WWar. The total numbers of candidates, European and non-European, respectively, under the ordinary and special methods combined are shown in columns 6 and 7:—
former year, three in the latter, and only two in 1921; the qualifying examinations held in 1921 were intended mainly for Indian service candidates and for the residue of European service candidates whose demobilisation had been deferred owing to circumstances beyond their control, such as the continuance of military operations in Mesopotamia and on the North-West Frontier of India.
The non-appearance of European candidates at the Open Competition of 1919 and 1920, as shown in column 2, is accounted for primarily by the institution in the former year of the special system of recruitment described above which was expressly designed to meet the requirements of such candidates, it being recognised that absence on war service had made it impossible for them to complete satisfactorily the normal course of study for the Open Competition. Similar conditions continued to be applicable in 1921 also, as even in that year there had not been time since the Armistice for demobilised candidates to complete the full course of study ordinarily undertaken in preparation for the Open Competition.
While special provision news thus made for the candidature of men who had served with the forces, a Clause was introduced into the Regulations for the Open Competition excluding the candidature of any person who had made before any tribunal established under the Military Service Acts, 1916, an application 1917W for the issue of a certificate of exemption from the provisions of those Acts on the ground of a conscientious objection to the undertaking of combatant service. This Regulation is still in force. Indian candidates, not being subject to the Military Service Acts above-mentioned, this provision in the Regulations did not apply to them, and the Open Competition continued to be held mainly for their benefit, as was explained in the House by the Secretary of State (Mr. Chamberlain) at the time of the passing of the Indian Civil Service (Temporary Provisions Act), 1915.
In addition to the recruitment dealt with in the tabular statement above, provision was made for the appointment of a number of Indian probationers to this Service by nomination. These nominations were made under separate Regulations, which were laid before Parliament. No statistics are available in the India Office as to the number of candidates who applied under these separate Regulations, as the applications were made to the authorities in India and not to the India Office; but the numbers of Indians selected as probationers under this procedure were 34 in 1919 and 12 in 1921, respectively.
As I stated in my speech in the Debate on the Address on 14th February, the whole situation is being carefully watched, and if it should prove that the existing methods of recruitment fail to occult properly qualified recruits in sufficient numbers for the indispensable Indian services, such steps as may be shown to be necessary to obtain the men required will be taken.