The Gurkha pensioner gets less than his British government. This is colonial legacy that creates an underclass of loyal, but cheap, soldiers.
Perhaps it was fated that among the first two British casualties on the ground as part of NATO forces in Kosovo, would be a Nepali Gurkha soldier. Sergeant Balram Rai of the 69 Gurkha Field Squadron of the Royal Engineers was working in a school compound near Pristina clearing cluster bombs dropped during NATO's aerial campaign when they exploded, killing him and a British officer.
Fated because his death has suddenly put the spotlight on the issue of the British Gurkha's pay and pensions. It was indeed news to a large section of the British public that Sergeant Rai's widow will receive a compensation that is only 7.5 percent of what the widow of a British sergeant would get (a lump sum of GBP 19,092, annual pension for five years of GBP 939 and GBP 771 every year as opposed to a lumpsum of GBP 54,548 and GBP 15,192 every year that a British sergeant's widow would get).
Against the backdrop of some amount of public indignation, several British political leaders raised their voices against this indication of bias. Even Prime Minister Tony Blair's office acknowledged that those arguing against the disparity were "making a pretty powerful point". All tFated because his death has suddenly put the spotlight on the issue of the British Gurkha's pay and pensions. It was indeed news to a large section of the British public that Sergeant Rai's widow will receive a compensation that is only 7.5 percent of what the widow of a British sergeant would get (a lump sum of GBP 19,092, annual pension for five years of GBP 939 and GBP 771 every year as opposed to a lumpsum of GBP 54,548 and GBP 15,192 every year that a British sergeant's widow would get).his came at a time, interestingly, when back in Kathmandu an uninspiring movement in Nepal by two groups of former Gurkhas demanding pay and pension parity with their British counterparts had been floundering.
Tripartite agreement
The Gurkhas (a term the British use to denote soldiers from Nepal) became part of the British Army in 1817. But, along with their Indian peers, were always paid less than the British soldier. Even after Indian independence when only the Gurkha regiments among the various 'native troops' were divided between Britain and India, Britain continued with the practice of paying the Gurkha less.