Grievances of surgeons, Indian Medical Service.

Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Grievances of surgeons, Indian Medical Service. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    11/36 (page 7)
    It is to be Iwped that every Surgeon—who can at all afford it—will send a subscription to the Defence Committee. H these suggestions be promptly acted on, the early amelioration of the preseijt desperate condition of our once noble service is looked forward to with confidence by I. M. S. Extract from Pioneer, March 7th, 1883. To THE Editor. SjRj—On reading the letter signed CrceSUS in your issue of the 2ist ultimo, I was at first inclined to think that an aggrieved junior was indulging in a little exaggeration. On re- ferring, however, to the Army List, I find that his statements are pretty well bprne out. The Bengal Army List of January, 1883, shows that the last six batches joined—from 31st October, }Sjg, to ist April, 1882—are in the following position :—Total joined, 42 ; in permanent employ, 3 or 7 per cent. ; officiating, 14 or 33 per cent. ; unemployed, 25 or 59 per cent. By way of comparison I take the Army List of July, 1875. The position of the six latest joined batches on that date (30th IMarch, 1872, to 3rd September, 1874) was as follows :—Total joined, 65; per- manent employ, July ist, 1875, 12 or 18 per cent. ; officiating July 1st, 1875, 34 or 52 per cent. ; unemployed, July ist, 1875, 19 or 29 per cent. It will be seen at a glance that the juniors of the Indian Medical Service have not been faring at all so well lately as some years ago, and that they ha\ e a most substantial grievance. It is monstrous that these officers should be still eking out existence qn a pittance which they were led to suppose was only a subsisteppe allowance confined to officers who had not passed the Lower Standard in Hindustani. I may add that I am not one of the unfortunates, and am quite disinterested. INDICUS.