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Nepali women rush for Gurkha training
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 force and authorities took out a newspaper advertisement this month asking women to give "notification of interest". British officials said practical issues such as recruitment and selection standards needed to be settled and actual recruitment could take time. "I know it is very good for my career," said Bunita Gurung, 19, taking a course in Pokhara in west Nepal. "I want to be a soldier in the British Army." Ms Gurung, a management student, was inspired to look for an army career by her father, a former Gurkha. Sirjana Rana, 20, also a student, said she would barely get $150 a month after completing her studies. If she joined the British Army, her wages could be ten times higher. "This is the first opportunity and the first is auspicious. I don't want to miss it," she said. Britain, which recruits 230 Gurkha men a year, has not said how many women it will take. There are about 3,400 Nepalis in the Brigade of Gurkhas, which has fought in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. Posted by: Seafarious 2007-06-27 |
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