Kathmandu, Jun 15 (IANS): In a first, the Indian Army has opened vacancies for Nepali women in Military Police.

The announcement comes at a time when there are calls to abrogate the recruitment of Nepali youths in the Indian Army.

The Army says that that it wants to continue the recruitment of Nepali youths both male and female in a bid to widen the scope for the youngsters.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu has released the announcement calling for eligible Nepali females to submit their application through the online.

The announcement has set a certain criteria but has also given some relaxation to the children of who parent died during service in the Indian Army.

As per the criteria those who have passed class 10, aged between 16 to 21 years or those who were born between October 1, 2000, to between April 1, 2004, and height above than 152 cm can apply.

The deadline for submitting application is July 20.

Those categorised as Veer Nari, are eligible to apply up to 30 years, according to the notice.

Those who fulfil the criteria will go for further selection process in Ambal, Lucknow, Jabalpur, Pune, Belgaum and Shillong.

The kids of former Indian Army recruits, Veer Nari and whose fathers were killed while on duty will get waive in weight and grace marks of 20 in the written examination.

As per the treaty between Nepal and India, there is a separate Gorkha Regiment in Indian Army and over lakhs of Nepali nationals have served in various positions in the Indian Army and retired.

The recruitment of Nepali youths began in 1816 during the rule of the East India Company.

Over 32,00 Nepali nationals are currently serving in the Indian Army at various capacities in seven Gorkha Rifle regiments (1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 11th), each of which has five to six battalions (around 800 soldiers each).

The 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th regiments went to the British Army after Independence in 1947. These have now been consolidated into one Gorkha Regiment.

Currently over lakhs of veterans are receiving pensions after retiring from the Indian Army.

It was the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist who demanded the scrapping of the recruitment of Nepali youths in Indian and British Armies before they waged the civil war in the country in 1996.

After 2007, the Maoists were in the government in Nepal in different capacities but they never raised the issue with Indian and British governments about scrapping provisions of Gorkha recruitment in Indian and British Armies.

But instead of scrapping the recruitment process, both Indian and British Armies are expanding the recruitment process and now Indian Army has started recruiting women too.