Reading Gurkha Families Press UK to Raise Pre-1997 Pensions as Widows Survive on £100 a Week
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Aug 25
Reading Gurkha Families Press UK to Raise Pre-1997 Pensions as Widows Survive on £100 a Week
2 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 25
Summary
Reading widows of pre-1997 Gurkha veterans say pensions tied to Nepal living costs leave them struggling in Britain, with 87-year-old Indumati Thapa relying on about £100 a week in benefits for rent, bills and food.
Those lower payments affect thousands of Gurkhas who retired to towns such as Reading, even though their husbands served alongside British forces in conflicts including Malaya and Borneo in the 1950s and 1960s.
Labour MP Matt Rodda said he and other MPs have pressed both the previous Conservative government and the current Labour administration to improve older Gurkhas' pension rights and help families access support.
The Ministry of Defence said the government values Gurkha service and will keep working with partners in the UK and Nepal, but families say time is running out for elderly widows who want dignity and, in some cases, enough money to return home.