After two centuries, Nepal women train for Gurkhas

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - More than 1,500 Nepali women have signed up with private firms to train for a possible career with the British army after it allowed them to join the Brigade of Gurkhas for the first time in nearly two centuries.

Britain is studying how Nepali women could be recruited for its Gurkha brigade and authorities took out a newspaper advertisement this month asking women to give "notification of interest" to serve in the army.

Gurkha soldiers, a tribe from Nepal's Himalayan foothills known for their fierce combat abilities, have been serving in the British army since 1815. But until now, men have only been allowed to join.

"There is great interest among women about the recruitment and this will only go up," said Prem Prakash Nemwang, a former Gurkha who runs a course in Dharan, a few hours drive east of Kathmandu.

Reuters contacted five of the major training firms in Nepal over the numbers of women who have signed up.

British officials said practical issues such as recruitment and selection standards needed to be settled and actual recruitment could take time.

It was not clear how many Nepali women would be recruited.

"At the moment it is too soon to say when we may be employing our first Nepalese woman in the British army, but it is unlikely to be within the next two years," the British army said last week in a statement.

"MONEY AND FAME"

Aspirants said the offer was worth trying.

"I know it is very good for my career," said Bunita Gurung, 19, taking a course in the resort town of Pokhara in west Nepal. "I want to be a soldier in the British army."

Gurung, a management student, was inspired to look for a career in the British army by her father, who is a former Gurkha.

Twenty-year-old undergraduate Sirjana Rana said she would barely get $150 a month in Nepal after completing her studies. But if she joined the British army now her wages could be 10 times higher, Rana said.

"This is the first opportunity for us and the first is always auspicious. I don't want to miss it," Rana said.

"I want to build my own career and lead an independent life without depending on others," she said.

Britain, which recruits 230 Gurkha men every year, has not said how many women it plans to take.

Mountainous Nepal, tucked between China and India, is one of the world's 10 poorest countries. A decade-long Maoist insurgency and years of political turmoil wrecked industries and businesses.

Remittances from Nepalis working abroad, including the Gurkhas, amount to more than $1.1 billion every year.

There are about 3,400 Nepalis in the Brigade of Gurkhas who have fought in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans.