Narendra Modi government to use services of retired and serving Gorkhas

NEW DELHI: As Kathmandu continues to reel under aftershocks, the Indian Army has turned to its Gorkha network of serving and retired soldiers hailing from Nepal for better coordination of rescue and relief operations.

The Army, which has 39 battalions and seven Gorkha regiments comprising 38,000 troops, plans to use this network of serving soldiers backed by 1.25 lakh pensioners in Nepal to ensure relief reaches the right quarters.

Military officials are also planning to incorporate Gorkha troops in rescue and relief teams that will be sent out to Nepal. “It will help in utilising the local knowledge and language skills in assisting even the relief teams of NDRF, that have already been deployed to Nepal,” said a senior official from the Gorkha Regiment.

The Army has already despatched to Kathmandu Major General Sandhu, a Gorkha officer, who will coordinate rescue and relief operations as the task force commander.

The task force will include troops from NDRF, the Indian Army and the Nepalese army.

All Gorkha units have already sent out small groups of troops that had families in Nepal and will continue to grant leaves to troops in batches.