Page:The Indian Civil Service as a profession.djvu/24

 twenty-one years' Indian service, but not a day sooner. No intermediate pensions are allowed, except to certified invalids; and an invalid pension cannot exceed £450 a year. He may hold on for ten years longer, but not a day more; and the extra service earns no extra pension.

From the day he joins the Service until he retires, the civilian has to contribute four per cent, of his salary, be it great or small, towards the cost of his pension. A result of this arrangement is that the lucky officer who has enjoyed high pay for many years defrays probably the greater part of the charge for his pension, while the retiring allowance of the man who has had bad luck and comparatively small pay must be mostly provided by the State. This is a very peculiar and anomalous system, differing totally from that in force in the Home