Nepal is a multiethnic, multilingual, multi-religious and multicultural country

Nepal is a multiethnic, multilingual, multi-religious and multicultural country with a common aspiration and commitment to a united bond of allegiance to national independence, integrity, national interests and prosperity. By virtue of its diversity, the government seeks to provide more inclusive state institutions. But despite of its efforts, the issue of inclusion (Samabesikaran) of different castes, ethnic groups, genders and regions have been frequently raised in the country. In the Gurkha Regiments of foreign armies, the practice of recruiting from specific ethnic groups is still prevalent. But in the case of the Nepalese Army, it has always endeavored to maintain a national character principally in terms of inclusion of all castes, ethnic communities, genders, regions and religions.

Maintaining its tradition and reflecting the spirit of the institution, the Nepalese Army incorporating a system of reservation. This practice was prevalent in the Nepalese Army decades before the Government of Nepal implemented the policy on inclusion in the state legislature. The Nepalese Army has ethnic based battalions from Magar, Gurung, Tamang, Kiranti/Limbu and Madhesi communities. The total strength of these five battalions is about 3950, which make 4.2% of current strength. In the rest of the formations, units and subunits all castes / ethnic communities, religions and regions are given an equal opportunity based on open competition.

In compliance to the Nepalese Law, which states that 45% of all vacant government positions be reserved for excluded groups, the Army in 2006, amended its Army Act. After which, out of the 45% reserved position within the Nepal Army 20% is reserved for women, 32% for Janajati, 28% for Madheshi, 15% for Dalit and 5% for remote regions.

Recruitment is voluntary and competitive. Hence forcing citizens to sign up in the proportion of the demographic breakup of the nation would violate the rights of the people who may not want to join the Army and at the same time be unfair to those qualified and wishing to join.

It is true that the racial and cultural character of the Nepalese Army is not a mirror image of the national picture but it depicts a picture which is far closer than most of the other organs of the state. The recruitment in the Nepalese Army is entirely voluntary in composition. The Army has been making a conscious effort in including as many of the minority groups as possible. It has aimed for inclusiveness since ages in the past. In recent times, the Army has also made important strides towards gender inclusiveness.

Presented below is a comparative table in which various castes and ethnic communities represented in Nepalese Army are compared with their respective population size.

State of Castes/Ethnic Inclusion in the Nepalese Army (As of December 24, 2015)
S.No.	Caste/Ethnic Groups	Population (2011 Census)	% of total Population	(%) of Total Representation in NA
(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)
1	CHHETREE	4,398,053	16.6	43.12
2	BRAHMAN	3,361,009	12.69	8.72
3	MAGAR	1,887,733	7.12	7.65
4	NEWAR	1,321,933	4.99	6.07
5	TAMANG	1,539,830	5.81	5.4
6	THAKURI	425,623	1.6	3.52
7	GURUNG	522,641	1.97	3.02
8	KAMI	1,258,554	4.75	3.09
9	THARU	1,737,470	6.56	3.23
10	RAI	620,004	2.34	2.5
11	SANYASI/JOGI	227,822	0.86	1.93
12	SARKI/BHUL	374,816	1.41	1.05
13	KUMAL	121,196	0.46	0.78
14	THAKUR/HAJAM	117,758	0.44	0.73
15	LIMBU	387,300	1.46	0.77
16	GHARTI/BHUJEL	118,650	0.45	1.2
17	DAMAI/DHOLI	472862	1.78	0.64
18	MAJHI	83,727	0.31	0.31
19	SUNUWAR	55712	0.21	0.29
20	YADAB	1,054,458	3.98	0.25
21	DURA	5394	0.02	0.15
22	DARAI	16,789	0.06	0.13
23	DANUWAR	84,115	0.32	0.14
24	SHERPA	112,946	0.43	0.12
25	RAJBANSHI	115,242	0.43	0.13
26	DHIMAL	26,298	0.1	0.1
27	KHATWE	100,921	0.38	0.06
28	CHAMAR	335,893	1.27	0.06
29	JIREL	5,774	0.02	0.05
30	DOM	13,268	0.05	0.03
31	BOTE	10,397	0.04	0.04
32	DHANUK	219,808	0.83	0.04
33	PAHARI	13,615	0.05	0.03
34	TELI	369,688	1.4	0.04
35	MECHE	4,867	0.02	0.02
36	DUSADH/PASAWAN	208,910	0.79	0.03
37	MANDAL/GANGAI	36988	0.14	0.03
38	MUSLIM	1,164,255	4.39	0.03
39	DHOBI	109,079	0.41	0.02
40	TATMA	104,865	0.39	0.02
41	HAYU	2,925	0.01	0.02
42	BADI	38603	0.15	0.02
43	RAJPUT	41,972	0.16	0.02
44	GAINE	6,791	0.02	0.01
45	CHEPANG	68,399	0.26	0.02
46	RAJI	4235	0.02	0.01
47	THAKALI	13,215	0.05	0.01
48	THAMI	28,671	0.11	0.01
49	KANU	125184	0.47	0.01
50	MUSAHAR/SADA	234490	0.88	0.03
51	TAJPURIYA	19,213	0.07	0.01
52	KUSWAHA/KOIRI	306393	1.16	0.01
53	TAMATA/LOHAR	101421	0.38	0.01
54	JHAGAD/DHAGAR	37,424	0.14	0.01
55	SANTHAL	51735	0.19	0.01
56	SARDAR	55104	0.21	0.01
57	KURMI	231,129	0.87	0.01
58	OTHERS	2,249,890	7.52	4.23
	TOTAL	26,494,504	100	100
Source: CBS for (c) & (d) and AG Dept (Records Office), Army HQs for (e)