After the 100 percent or more pension hike announced by the British Government in December 1999, the Gurkhas have yet another reason to celebrate. This time it is an increase of 11.9 percent in their retirement, service and disability pensions, and resettlement grant which will take effect from 1 April 2000.

The new increase was recommended by an independent team from the United Kingdom that visited Nepal earlier \'his year. "The visiting team alone was responsible for this increase." said a British Embassy statement. "This award would be revised annually in line with the cost of living increase in Nepal."

This is in keeping with the December announcement, which said that "...Gurkha pensions and gratuities will continue to be reviewed in the normal way and will benefit from cost of living increases each year."

Under the new arrangements, pensioners below the rank of corporal will receive Rs 7881 per month, while Gurkha majors, the highest rank Gurkhas can reach, will get Rs 26,421.

The two substantial increases in pensions still fail to meet the demands made by former Gurkhas in Nepal. For the past five years, organisations representing ex-Gurkhas have been campaigning for besides other benefits, parity in pension with their British counterparts. The December 1999 statement had flatly stated that the British Gurkha pension "was not subject to further negotiation."

The only concession so far on the question of equal benefits came in May 1999 when the British government announced equal death-in-service gratuities for Gurkha soldiers and their British counterparts. This came about after intense public pressure in the UK following reports in the British press that the widow of Sergeant Balaram Rai, a Gurkha soldier who died on duty in Kosovo, would receive a pittance compared to what the wife of a British soldier of the same rank would get.