KATHMANDU, JANUARY 20

The government has increased the wage of workers involved in the schemes under the Prime Minister Employment Programme.

Workers' perks and benefits have upped and their accidental insurance has become mandatory as per decision of the Cabinet meeting held in the first week of January to amend the PMEP Operational Guideline, 2018.

According to Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security and PMEP National Director Dandu Raj Ghimire, the decision to increase workers' wage has come into effect from the current fiscal with the endorsement of the Guideline by the Cabinet.

The ministry had sent a proposal to the Cabinet to amend the Guideline to this effect after complaints were lodged from different quarters regarding low remuneration entitled to the unemployed youths in the employment schemes. From now onwards, the minimum daily wage of the worker will not be less than Rs 577 as stipulated by the ministry.

Ghimire informed that the wage had been determined as per the minimum wage rate stipulated by the government for the new fiscal (Mid-July 2021). Before this, the unemployed youths involved in the PMEP were entitled to get daily wage of Rs 517. The daily wage has increased by Rs 60 from the new fiscal.

It may be noted that Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had directed the labour ministry to double the daily wage for unemployed youths. The government had stipulated the provision of providing Rs 15,000 as minimum monthly salary inclusive of dearness allowance, effective from last mid-July.

According to this arrangement, the workers are entitled to get daily wage of Rs 577.

As per the new arrangement, accidental insurance of daily wagers will also come into effect mandatorily. With this, collective accidental insurance of 200,000 workers to be engaged in employment schemes among those listed in the PMEP employment management information system has come into effect for a period of 100 days.

The ministry further shared that arrangement related to the elevated wage and insurance would come into effect from the current fiscal in line with the Guideline.

Likewise, Rs 20 million has been allocated for the current fiscal for insurance.

According to the ministry, as many as 743,081 youths across the country have been enlisted as unemployed in the employment management information system.

The government had allocated Rs 12 billion for implementation of the programme in the current fiscal.

A version of this article appears in the print on January 21, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.