26 September 2023

NEPAL: Caste system still dogging bureaucracy

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Despite the Nepalese Government reserving 45 per cent of Public Service positions for minorities, women and disabled people, upper caste Brahmins continue to get recruited in the highest numbers.

The Central Bureau of Statistics has yet to make public the population structure based on ethnicity and caste from the 2021 census, but according to the annual report of the Public Service Commission, 47.83 per cent of candidates recommended by the Commission for recruitment were Brahmins.

However, Information Officer at the Commission, Devi Prasad Subedi said the recommendations did not give a true picture.

“Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we could not recommend many candidates who could be recruited in the Civil Service under the inclusion quotas,” Mr Subedi said.

“Had all the candidates under the inclusion quotas been included, the share of Brahmins in total recommendations would have come down.”

The Civil Service Act reserves 45 per cent of Public Service positions for women, Indigenous groups, Madhesis, Dalits, people with disability and those from backward regions, while open competition is held only for 55 per cent of seats.

“More Brahmin candidates joined the Civil Service in the last fiscal year because only results of the open competition category were released during the year,” Mr Subedi said.

“They have a longstanding tradition of joining the Civil Service and applicants from the group are always high.”

Kathmandu, 29 July 2022

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