At an interaction program held at the Reporters’ Club on Friday, the leading members of the Joint British Gurkha Army Association, Nepal, said that the UK had in reality cheated the ex-servicemen by calling small increase in dearness allowance increments in pension.
Himal Rai, the chairman of the association, said that when the price hike had reached an unprecedented 40 per cent in Nepal, the Gurkhas got only a 14.1 per cent raise in pension. “The UK government has actually fooled the Nepali people and the Nepali press by granting us a pension that is less than the actual requirement,” Rai said. The general secretary of the association, S B Ghising, raised strong objections to the visiting Minister for Veterans Kevan Jones’s comment that the pension policy for British Gurkhas would not change. According to Ghising, Jones had said that the policy would not be reversed as the livelihood expense for Nepali people is low.
Stating that the Gurkhas were still facing discrimination at the hands of the British authorities, Ghising said that the Gurkhas’ struggle for right to equality would continue.
The central committee member of the association, Dilman Pakharin, also reiterated the association’s determination to ensure that the rights of the British Gurkhas were safeguarded under any circumstances.
The program was attended by various other office bearers of the Joint British Gurkha Army Association.
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