Analyzing Reservation Policies in
Civil Service of Nepal
Deepak Dhakal

MPP/IP(51-128210)
The University of Tokyo

Socio Political Situation• Divided into 5 development and 3 ecological regions• Certain geographical areas strongly associated with particularethnic/caste groups.
• Multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-religious country withdiverse cultures.
• 26 million population.
• More than 125 caste and ethnic groups.
• Speaking over 91 languages.
• Practicing 10 different religious beliefs.

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Demographic Structure
Caste/Ethnicity

Population:

Percentage:

Chhetri

4,398,179

16.6

Bramhin Hill

3,226,903

12.2

Magar

1,887,733

7.1

Tharu

1,737,470

6.6

Tamang1,539,830

5.8

Newar

1,321,933

5.0

Kami

1,258,554

4.8

Muslim

1,164,255

4.4

Yadav

1,054,458

4.0

Rai

620,004

2.3

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Demographic Structure

Population by Religious Belief
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Poverty Incidence in Nepal
Ethnicity/RacePopulation under Poverty line
(In percentage)

Population
Distribution

Hill Brahmin

10.34

12.7

Hill Chhetri

23.40

17.8

Terai Bramhin

18.61

0.5

Terai Middle Caste 28.69

15.4Hill Dalit

43.63

8.7

Terai Dalit

38.16

4.6

Newar

10.25

6.2

EthnicNationalities-Hill

28.25

21.8

EthnicNationalities-Terai

25.93

7.1

Muslim

20.18

4.3

Others

12.34

0.9

HDI by caste/ethnicity, 2006

Source: HDR 2009.

High Centralization of State

Adapted from Lawoti (2007)

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Status of Women
Nepal’s GEI Ranking is 47 (Considered Very Low)
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births) 229
Skilled birth attendance 28.8%
Though women's contribution to agricultural production isabove 60%, the total land holding is only 8%.
• Over 70% women workers are confined to self- employed,
unpaid and low wage informal activities.
• Male literacy rate is 75.1% compared to female literacy rateof 57.4%••••

http://www.socialwatch.org/node/15726

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Male Female Ratio in Civil Service

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Introduction of Reservation System
Civil Service Act 1993 (Second Amendment 2007)
introduced Reservation as a tool to combat exclusion in
Nepal and recognized following groups as excluded:• Aadibasi: Antediluvian Residence• Janjati: Excluded from Hindu caste classification• Madhesi: Claimed antediluvian residence and has specific cast,mother tongue and culture.
• Dalit: Previously discard untouchable and segregated groupsof cast.
• Disabled: Physically or mentally unable• Women: Human female
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Reserved Seats in Civil Service
Total Seat

Open Seats

ReservedSeats
45%

Open
Competition
55%

Woman
33%
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Closed Seats

Janajati
27%

Madhesi
22%

Dalit
9%

Disabled
5%

RemoteAreas 4%

Research Question
To what extent the reservation policy initiated by thegovernment of Nepal has addressed the problems ofexclusion in civil service of Nepal?
In gaining this objective, this study has tried to seek answer for thefollowing sub question:
A. Who are the excluded groups in Nepal?
B. What are the major problems related to the exclusion ?
C. What are the policy responses in solving those problems of exclusion?
D. Is the reservation policy sufficient enough to address the problem?

Hypothesis

Inadequate policy response and weak
implementation has not been able to squarely
address the problems of under-representation in
civil service of Nepal.

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Data Sources
Secondary data.
•Public Service Commission (PSC) of Nepal,•Human Development Reports by UNDP,•Nepal Living Standard Survey (NLSS) 2010-2011•Population and Housing Census 2011
•Personnel Information System (PIS) of Nepal
Government.

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Who are the Excluded?

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Meaning of Exclusion"Social exclusion refer to processes by which
entire communities of people aresystematically blocked from rights,
opportunities, and resources (e.g., housing,employment, health care, civic engagement,
democratic participation, and due process)that are normally available to members ofsociety and that are key to social integration."
Institute on Social Exclusion,
Alder School of Professional Psychology
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Two Forms of Exclusion• Sen (2000) describes exclusion as "CapabilityDeprivation".
• He categorize Exclusion in two different types:
Active Exclusion andPassive Exclusion• Nepal experienced both of these types ofexclusion.
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Who are the excluded?
The Nepal Gender and Social Exclusion Assessment(GSEA) identifies 6 dimension of exclusion in Nepal:
SocialCategory
StatusGenderCaste

Ethnicity/
Race

Language

Religion

Geo/Politi
calDominant

Men/BoysBramhinChettris

Caucasoid

Nepali

Hindu

Parbatiya:
Hill Dweller

Non Hindu

Madhesi:
Plain
Dweller

Women/Girl
SubordinateDalits

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Janajati/Mongoloid

OtherWho are Excluded?

The Muluki Ain or Country Code (1854) brought all these diverse groups
together under a single legal system.
Bhattachan, K. B. (2009).
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Cause/Impact of Exclusion(Problems related to Exclusion)

Causes/Impact of exclusion has been identified as:

Poverty(Economic/Social/Political)

Lacking(Right/Choice/Voice)

Under Representation(Politics/Bureaucracy/Decision Making)8/8/2013

Poverty Reduction Strategy paper

Solution to Exclusion
Solution: reversing the process of exclusion:• Mainstreaming.
• Rightful sharing in Power, resource andOpportunity• Tools: Positive Discrimination, End ofDiscrimination, Equality, Social Security, ,Reservation.

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Some major conventions nepal ratified...
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.
• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Formsof Racial Discrimination, 1965.
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966.
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and CulturalRights, 1966.
• The Convention on the Elimination of all forms ofDiscrimination Against Women, 1979.
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman orDegrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984.
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.
• The convention on indigenous and tribal peoples, 1989.

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Assessment of Reservation System in Civil
Service of Nepal

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Reserved Seats (5 Years)
Reserved Category

Number of Seats:

Percentage:

Woman

1743

34

AJ

1334

26

Madhesi

1113

22

Dalit

526

10

Disabled233

5Remote Area

144

3

TOTAL: 5093

100

Source: Civil Service Commission Annual Reports from 2008-2012
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Number of Applicants (5 Years)
S.N

Year

Women

MenTotal

NumberPercentage

NumberPercentage

1

2008

67,435

39

107,68761

175,1222

2009

32,45738

53,711

62

86,1683

2010

139,96347

160,500

53

300,4634

2011

110,30743141,344

57

251,6515

2012

113,78542

157,79258

271,577

Source: Civil Service Commission Annual Reports from 2008-2012
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Successful Candidates
SN

Reserved Category

Number of Seats:

Percentage:

1

Woman

1310

37

2

AJ

975

27

3

Madhesi

730

20

4

Dalit

302

9

5Disabled

141

4

6

Remote Area

103

3

TOTAL:3561

100

Issue of Ensurity and Merit based Selection
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Male Female Ratio
Year:Female

MaleTotal

2008

8774

11.09

70368

88.91

79142

2009

8713

11.96

64125

88.04

72838

2010

9749

1365225

87

74974

2011

10773

13.84

67075

86.16

77848

2012

11679

14.67

67928

85.33

79607

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Increased No. 2905
Success in reserved seats: 1310
So 1595 from open competition?
<NO>
1595 women from Women only schemes
only 497 women without reservation

Region-wise Distribution

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Source: PIS Nepal

Religion wise Distribution

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Source: PIS Nepal

Key Findings• Reservation can only solve the problem of underrepresentation in civil service in short run.
• Women have been found attracted to civil service but not all
the groups.
• All the dimension of exclusion has not been covered byReservation policy.
• Domination of a limited elite group even within the excluded
groups• It takes long time to build the ratio in proportionate mannerso other tools need to be applied, i.e. capacity development.
• "Nepalese reservation system has not given comprehensive
attention to all the dimensions of exclusion but its effects on
generating attraction of marginalized people towards national
bureaucratic system is noticeable."
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Thank You

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