WELCOME & NAMASTE

from the Executive Committee and all members

धनकुटा सेवा समाज (यू. के.)

DHANKUTA SEWA SAMAJ (UK) .

With the granting of UK settlement rights to Gurkhas after the Home Office announcement in October 2004 for post 97 Gurkhas followed by the immigration discretionary rule in May 2009 for pre ’97 retired Gurkhas who served for 4 years or more from 1948 to 1997, many retired Gurkhas have now settled in the UK. Obviously, settling in a new country is not always smooth sailing and any one of us could fall into financial and social predicament. Bearing this in mind, retired Gurkhas and Nepalese in the UK who hail from the district of Dhankuta, decided to establish a ‘Samaj’ to ensure there was a welfare safety net to help those who may fall into such predicaments. Hence on 28 August 2010, ‘Dhankuta Sewa Samaj (UK)’ was formally established in the UK. The correct acronym for the ‘Samaj’ shall be DSS (UK). DSS (UK) is a non-religious, non-racial and a non-political ‘Samaj’ that will not tolerate any racial, sexual or other form of discrimination or abuse in any shape or form. All members should strive to promote peace, unity, understanding and harmony for the betterment of the ‘Samaj’.

AIM

The aim of the ‘Samaj’ is in two folds:

• To provide advice, guidance and welfare assistance to all those members in times of need.

• To preserve and maintain our heritage, traditional customs and culture.

ABOUT DHANKUTA

Dhankuta zilla is situated in the east part of Nepal. A part of KOSHI zone, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district covers an area of 891 sq. km and has a population (2007) of 167,891, Dhankuta is the district headquarters of major administrative region in the East region. The vegetation zones in the district range from sub-tropical Sal forest along the Tamur and Arun rivers, and cooler temperate forests on some of the high ridges that mark the watershed between the two catchments. The altitude ranges from around 300m to 2500m. The majority of the population are involved in agriculture and crops include maize, rice and millet. Important crops include citrus fruits, cauliflower, cabbage, ginger, and in recent years, tea. A well-preserved forest (Rani Bhan – Queen’s Forest) spreads along a ridge line on the northwest side of the village, with well-developed mature stands of rhododendron and sal (pine) trees.