British Gurkhas Nepal

British Gurkhas Nepal (BGN) is an administrative organisation of the British Army that forms part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. The mission of BGN is to organise and facilitate the recruitment, transit and welfare of Gurkhas recruited into the British Army, to ensure that all Gurkha units are manned fully and to maintain communication with Gurkha units stationed around the world.

BGN falls under the direct command of HQ 4th Division in Aldershot. BGN is commanded by a full colonel, who also serves as the defence attaché at the British Embassy in Kathmandu, and operates from three locations within Nepal:

• Jawalakhel, Patan - just south of the river from central Kathmandu is the location both of Headquarters British Gurkhas Nepal and the Kathmandu station, which is the focal point for organisation of transit to and from Nepal, the welfare of serving soldiers and payment of pensions.
• The British Gurkha Camp in Pokhara is the main recruitment centre, where the annual selection course is run. Pokhara is also the location of the main pension records and houses the headquarters of the Gurkha Welfare Trust.
• British Gurkha Dharan is a small station intended to assist BGN operations in eastern Nepal. It is used primarily as a movement base and regional recruiting centre.

BGN's most important function is the annual recruitment process. Every year, a total of 294 men are selected following the rigorous selection process that is run from the camp at Pokhara. Of these, 230 join the British Army, while the remaining 64 join the Gurkha Contingent of the Singapore Police Force.

BGN also facilitates transit, both to and from Nepal, of recruits, serving soldiers on leave and their families. Under the Gurkha Married Accompied Service (GMAS) policy, all married serving Gurkha soldiers with three years or more service can be accompanied by their families to their posting, whether in the UK or Brunei. BGN has responsibility for arranging the call forward of Gurkha families under this scheme, and for organising flights to and from a posting.

Each site has a pensions officer who has responsibility for organising the payment of pensions, while welfare for serving soldiers is run centrally from Kathmandu, with a number of Area Welfare Centres in other locations. Welfare for ex-servicemen is the responsibility of the Gurkha Welfare Service, an arm of the UK based Gurkha Welfare Trust, which is based at Pokhara. The GWS is responsible for the distribution of both individual welfare through distribution of pensions and grants to ex-servicemen and widows, and communal welfare through provision of infrastructure projects.