CO129-607-6 Police Department- Indian Section 11-1-1948 - 7-4-1949 — Page 30

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(viii)

(x)

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to dispanse with the services of the satisfactory constables etc.

(b) That the petitioners though on leave, which was not our seeking were still in service of the Hong Kong Govt. and should, therefore, derive all benefit such as increased salary, addition in pensions etc, accorded to other members of the Police force. The petitioners had never heard of two rates of pay to the same class of officers, whether on leave outside the colony, or on duty in the colony throughout the British Empire, as the Hong Kong Government had decided in our case. As the new scale of salary came into force with effect from the 1st January, 1947, we prayed to H.E. the Governor to order the benefit of the new scale of salaries and to assess our pensions on the increased rabs that had come into force.

That the petitioners were informed by the Hong-Kong Govt. Representative in india, that H., the Governor regretted that he was unable to accede to our appeal on the following grounds:-

(a) That the revision of salaries from the 1st Jan 1946 and again from 1st January 1947 was primarily designed to enable those officers who were in the Colony at the time to meet the high cost of living then prevailing in the colony and adjustment in our favour who were repatriated to India was not appli- cable. Moreover the majority, if not all of us had been on full pay leave in India for periods greatly in excess of the leave for which we were eligible, and in very many cases even exceeding two years. We had, in H.E's view received more favourable and generous treatment than other class of officers who vere required to return to duty on expiry of their earned leave.

(b) That in view of the necessity for reorganising the composition of the Police Force the Government decision for retiring us on abolition of office was final.

(c) That the contention that the provision of abolition factor was inadvertently omitted from the Police Pension Regulations was no regarded as valid. The necessity for an enhanced pension on abolition of office did not arise in the Police Force, since the pension factor, which enabled a policeman to be granted a higher pension, all things being equal, than other Government servants was based on the fact that they could normally retire from sergice 10 years earlier.

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That the humble petitioners being to submit their appeal to you, the Right Honourable, the Secretary of state, with the hope that their case would receive favourable and sympathetic consideration, and the grave injustice done to them would be removed. The petitioners beg to submit further as follows:-

6) That, if the increase in salaries approved in 1946 and again in 1947 was just to meet the high cost of living then prevailing in the colony, your petitioners fail to understand why the high cost of living in addition to the increased basic salary was again granted. Your petitioners submit that the basic salaries were increased on the general trend of high cost of living throughout the world after the World Warll, and not to meet the particular case of the Hong Kong Government servants.

(b) That the high cost of living is prevalent in

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