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Planning Ahead for the Gurkhas
Since the Gurkha safety valve cannot operate indefinitely, it would be wise to start planning for the day when it will close. The announced reduction of British Gurkha down to two battalions is a warning.
Gurkha recruitment has allowed successive Kathmandu regimes over the last two centuries to evade the challenges of developing the national economy. With the best and the brightest of the mountain people finding easy escape into Gurkha regiments and their high volume remittances helping maintain the economy of the hills, there has been little incentive to push hard for developing the Nepali heartland.