| Nhuchche |
Posted
on 06-Feb-02 12:48 PM
February 5, 2002 6:57am
02/05/2002
Text of report by Nepalese newspaper Kathmandu Post via Nepalnews.com web site on 5 February
Kathmandu, 4 February: Former Gurkha is taking the Ministry of Defence to an employment tribunal in a discrimination test case which could cost the UK government millions, the BBC web site states Monday [as dateline].
L/Cpl Hari Thapa claims a monthly pension imbalance - just 58 pounds against army veterans' 450 pounds payment - amounts to racial discrimination. He is demanding equal rights with British servicemen and 43,000 pounds compensation for 15 years' payments at the reduced rate.
Victory at the tribunal in Cardiff could spark a flood of claims from up to 30,000 Gurkhas and 6,000 widows. One report put the potential bill to the government at up to 2bn pounds.
A British passport-holder stationed at Brecon, Mr Thapa, from Cwmbran, south Wales, was angered by the MoD's basic salary rate of 17.50 pounds per month during service and the 58 pounds pension after discharge in 1997. He was recruited to the armed forces under a 1947 tripartite agreement between the UK, India and Nepal, which links Gurkhas' pay and pensions to those in the Indian army. But the MoD insists the payments are adequate because most Gurkhas retire back to Nepal, where the cost of living is considerably less than in the UK.
It is the latest case as the Gurkhas - a troop of which is currently peace-keeping in Afghanistan - continue to put the UK government under pressure to pay up. Another tribunal in Suffolk, brought by an aggrieved former Gurkha lieutenant from Essex, is due to deliver its judgment soon.
Mr Thapa, 38, told BBC Radio Wales: "I feel Gurkhas are treated as second-class citizens. The Gurkhas have been here a long, long time as the best soldiers in the world."
He also alleges he received "second rate" medical treatment, a lower resettlement grant on discharge and worse tax benefits than those enjoyed by regular troops.
Source: Kathmandu Post via Nepalnews.com web site in English 5 Feb 02
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