Government amending laws related to foreign employment

January 24, 2005
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The government is mulling over the amendment in acts and laws related to foreign employment to make it, the largest foreign currency earner of the country, further systematic and dignified.

Minister of State for Labour and Transport Management, Rabindra Khanal (File Photo)

Minister of State for Labour and Transport Management, Rabindra Khanal (File Photo)
Speaking at a programme in the capital on Monday, Minister of State for Labour and Transport Management, Rabindra Khanal, said that the government is doing the necessary homework in order to establish foreign employment as an industry.

He said that the government is organising an international symposium on foreign employment with the participation of the representatives of the countries using Nepali labour, employers and other sides.

Senior officials at the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MoLTM) urged the concerned sector to give suggestions regarding the policy, acts and regulations in line for amendment and revision.

Speaking at the same programme, foreign employment entrepreneurs said that the government should accord the highest priority to the foreign employment sector which is playing an important role in poverty reduction and bringing about self-employment at a time when the industry and business sector of the country has been hit by the conflict, according to reports.

They demanded establishment of skill development training centre in each district for the benefit of those wanting to go on foreign employment, making arrangements for providing loans, revision in the orientation training and creating an appropriate environment for investing the remittances in productive sector.

The entrepreneurs also demanded to review the basic salary of workers employed abroad.

The government some three years ago had fixed the minimum wage of foreign job seekers at US$ 125, excluding food and lodging costs.

The government has not been able to take the decision of raising wage of the workers, due to fear that countries like Bangladesh may take advantage from Nepal’s decision.

Currently Nepal, Bangladesh and India are some of the countries in the region exporting unskilled workers to various labor destinations in the Gulf region and Malaysia.

At present annually some 1,850,000 Nepali people are leaving for foreign employment. The number of Nepalese nationals working in India is around 3-5 million, according to the foreign employment agencies.

The country is getting remittance worth two billion rupees from foreign employment. This contributes to some 30 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 70 percent of the total foreign exchange reserves.