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Britain facing legal action against move to cut Gorkha pension

London: British government is facing legal action over alleged plans to cut the pensions of Gorkhas by sacking them three years before they are due to leave the army.

The move, which means the Defence Ministry will avoid having to pay an ordinary Gorkha soldier more than £200,000, is to be challenged in the courts by the British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF).

An official briefing document on the new pension scheme shows that 80 to 85 per cent of Gorkhas will be discharged early, so they will be missing the better payments, The Sunday Times reported on Sunday. They will lose out not only on the immediate pension they will get after 18 years’ service but also on a lump sum departure payment of the equivalent of three years’ pension.

Gorkhas have been put on the new army pension scheme, which applies to all other soldiers, after years of campaigning by their supporters. The full pension will be around £6,500 a year for a rifleman, the basic Gorkha rank — plus the one-off departure payment. In the past, most Gorkhas served only for 15 years, after which they received an immediate pension that was much smaller at about £1,200 a year for a rifleman. But Gorkhas on the new scheme will get nothing until they are 65, if the Ministry decides they are among the 80 to 85 per cent to be thrown out at 15 years. — PTI

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