Nepal Police Ranks and Insignia: Full Hierarchy from Constable to IGP

Nepal Police (Nepali: Nepal Prahari) is the country's primary civilian law-enforcement agency, operating nationwide under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The force traces its modern legal foundation to the Police Act, 2012 BS (1955 AD), and its headquarters (Police Headquarters, PHQ) is located in Naxal, Kathmandu, where it is led by the Inspector General of Police.

The organisation uses a single vertical chain of command. According to the official Nepal Police ranks page, there are 14 ranks running from Police Constable at the base to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) at the apex. In recent years the force expanded the ladder by adding intermediate ranks — Senior Sub-Inspector (SSI), Senior Head Constable, and Assistant Head Constable — to smooth promotion paths and supervision.

Ranks are broadly grouped into two tiers used across Nepal's public service: gazetted (rajpatrankit) officer ranks, which begin at the rank of Inspector and run up to the IGP, and non-gazetted (rajpatra anankit) ranks, which cover Senior Sub-Inspector and below down to Constable.

The list below gives each Nepal Police rank in ascending order of seniority, with its common English name, Nepali name, and abbreviation as published on the official Nepal Police website. The lowest rank is Police Constable (Prahari Jawan) and the highest is the Inspector General of Police.

Nepal Police insignia are worn on the shoulder (epaulette) and combine star pips, chevrons, and the force's signature emblem of crossed khukuri and police baton set within a wreath of lotus leaves for the most senior officers. The descriptions below follow the insignia detailed in the Wikipedia summary of Nepal Police ranks.

For constabulary (non-gazetted) ranks, the markings move from coloured shoulder straps to chevrons and then to star pips as seniority rises. Officer (gazetted) ranks are distinguished primarily by the crossed khukuri-and-baton emblem, the number of star pips, and — for the top three ranks — the lotus-leaf wreath.

Nepal's public service distinguishes gazetted (rajpatrankit) officers, whose appointments and promotions are notified in the official gazette, from non-gazetted (rajpatra anankit) staff. In Nepal Police, the rank of Inspector marks the entry point into the gazetted officer cadre and is classified as a gazetted third-class position.

Above Inspector, the gazetted officer ranks rise through DSP, SP, SSP, DIG, AIG, and the IGP at the top. Below Inspector, the non-gazetted ranks — from Senior Sub-Inspector down through Sub-Inspector, Assistant Sub-Inspector, the head-constable grades, and finally the Constable — form the bulk of the force's roughly tens of thousands of personnel who carry out frontline policing, patrol, and operational duties.

The Inspector General of Police is the senior-most officer and the chief of Nepal Police. The IGP oversees all policing activity across the country and reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The post was established in the early 1950s, with Toran Shamsher J.B. Rana recorded as the first Inspector General of Police.

The IGP is appointed by the Government of Nepal through a decision of the Council of Ministers (cabinet). The standard tenure is four years, though the term can be extended in some cases. The position and the broader rank structure operate within the framework of the Police Act, 2012 BS (1955) and subsequent police regulations.

Nepal Police salaries are not set independently by the force; they are tied to the Government of Nepal's public-service pay structure, which is revised through the annual national budget presented by the Ministry of Finance. Because the figures are reset each fiscal year, the durable fact is the structure rather than any single rupee amount: higher ranks sit on higher basic-pay grades, and pay rises both with rank and with annual grade (tallab vriddhi) increments earned over years of service.

Beyond basic pay, Nepal Police personnel receive a range of allowances. These commonly include a dearness allowance (revised periodically in the budget), a ration/food allowance that scales with rank, and additional remote-area or hardship allowances for officers posted to high-risk or distant locations. Officers are also entitled to standard government benefits such as provident fund, gratuity, and pension on retirement. For exact current figures, the Ministry of Finance budget and Nepal Police's own published scales for the relevant fiscal year are the authoritative references.