Nepal Government agrees to form new unit for Madhesi in Nepal Army.

Kathmandu, Sep 9 (PTI)

The Maoists-led government today agreed to set up a new unit in the Nepal Army to facilitate en masse recruitment of the Indian-origin Madhesi people, a key part of a deal that helped Baburam Bhattarai win the support of five Terai-based parties in the Prime Ministerial election.

"As per the constitutional provision to develop Nepal Army as a democratic, national and inclusive institution, a fresh recruitment process would be initiated as part of the plan to form a separate unit for the identity of Madhesi people," Finance Minister Barsa Man Pun was quoted as saying by Kantipur online.

The government announced to set up the separate unit for "bulk integration" of Madhesi people in the army.Nepal's Terai plains are home to about half of the country's 30 million people, and the residents of the region, known as Madhesis, have long complained of discrimination by the country's hill communities.

The pro-Terai parties argue that people in the Madhesi-dominated southern plains have long been treated as second-class citizens in Nepal, where hill-origin elites dominate politics, the security forces and business.The United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF), the alliance of five Madhesi parties that is the fourth largest political force in parliament, and the UCPN (Maoist) had agreed on a deal to form the separate unit for the Madhesi community so as to develop the army as an inclusive institution.

The recruitment of 10,000 people from the Madhesi community living in the Terai-plains bordering India has been a long-standing demand of the UDMF, the main coalition partner of the Maoist-led government. PTI