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PAKISTAN : WEAKENING OF THE DEFENCES
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Mr. C. M. G. Ogilvie : Madras is not practically kept out of the army. Government gladly acknowledge the gallant services of the Madrasis in the army and they are now recruited to those Units where experience has proved them to be best. There are some 4,500 serving chiefly in the Sappers and Miners and Artillery.
Mr. S. Satyamurti: Out of a total of 120,000 ?
Mr. C. M. G. Ogilvie : About that.
Mr. S. Satyamurti: May I take it, that, that is a proper proportion, considering the population of Madras, the revenue that Madras pays to the Central exchequer, and the necessity of having a national army recruited from all the provinces ?
Mr. C. M. G. Ogilvie: The only necessity we recognise is to obtain the best possible army.
Mr. S. Satyamurti: May I know by what tests Government have come to the conclusion that provinces other than the Punjab cannot supply the best elements in the Indian Army ?
Mr. Ogilvie : By experience.
Dr. Sir Ziauddin Ahmed: May I ask if it is not a fact that all branches of Accounts Department are monopolised by the Madrasis and will Government immediately reduce the number in proportion to their numerical strength in India ?
Mr. Ogilvie: I do not see how that arises from this question either, but the Government are again not prepared to sacrifice efficiency for any provincial cause.
Indian Regiment consisting of Indians belonging to Different Castes*
Q. 1078 : Mr. M. Anantasayanam Ayyangar (on behalf of Mr. Manu Subedar):
(a) Will the Defence Secretary state whether any experiment has ever been made under British rule of having an Indian regiment consisting of Indians recruited from different provinces and belonging to the different castes and sections, such as Sikhs, Mahrattas, Rajputs, Brahmins and Muslims ?
*Legislative Assembly Debates, 1938, Vol. VI, page 2478.