Budget - Army Department Gwalior Department 1935

These terms remain yet to be settled and a consideration of the question of the adaptability of the Scheme can at present be on a number of suppositions—the main assumption being that if an Indian State joins the Union Government the authority of the Union Government in respect of Defence matters will in no way affect the continuance of the right of the State to maintain control and supervise i [...] On the other hand the present indications are that the Iridia n States would be asked to join (if they wish to ) the Union Government substantialy on the same terms as the British Indian Provinces and in the event of an Indian State joining the Union Government the authority of the constituent Indian States to maintain control and supervise its armed forces would be very limited and much less tha [...] The maintenance of the forces would be optional for the States and theoretically there would be no"5 limit to the strength of the armed forces of an Indian Statet although in actual practice it would be limited by the financial resources of the State its geographical position and the political condition. [...] However if the Indian States do agree to such a control in order to make their forces effective (it must not be forgotten that the success of the present Indian States Forces Scheme is in large measure due to the existence of a Central Authority in the form of a Paramount Power) then alone the proposed scheme of the Indian States Forces can be adapted with the necessary modifications to suit the [...] In view of the aforesaid considLrations it is suggested that for the preliminary examination of the various problems referred to above the Pos.-War Reconstruction Committee may divide itself into sub-Committees:— (a) to deal with the various aspects of the problems cited above (b) to correspond with the Committees set up by the Government of India as detailed in Appendix A At the same time.t