Kathmandu, November 2:

The Department of Labour and Employment Promotion (DoLEP) has asked all manpower agencies to return deposits that they had taken as temporary compensation, within 35 days.

The government had given back deposits of Rs 500,000 to manpower recruiting agencies last year after unruly mobs vandalised most of their offices and properties, in an aftermath of the brutal killing of 12 Nepalis in Iraq on August 29, 2004. Every manpower agency has to maintain deposits worth Rs 500,000 at DoLEP, while registering as a new company.

The government had compensated the manpower agencies by giving back the deposit at a zero interest rate for a year. “The deposit was given back as compensation, so that manpower agencies could resume their activities,” says a senior official at DoLEP. According to him, 221 such agencies had taken deposits from the government. The deadline for repayment of the deposit for 123 such companies have already been expired on October 18, while the remaining 58 companies still have time to pay back the deposit.

DoLEP had suspended official work of these 123 companies after October 18. The manpower agencies took the matter to the ministry, where Ram Narayan Singh, minister for labour and transport management is understood to have intervened in the matter, following requests from manpower agencies.

DoLEP has issued a 35-day notice for repayment of the deposit following the directive from the minister. The suspended work of those agencies have now been resumed, said the source at the ministry.

The manpower agencies, meanwhile have been asking the government not to make the provision of deposit mandatory, citing heavy losses incurred due to vandalism of September 1 last year. “We are hopeful that all the companies will repay the deposit within the new deadline. Otherwise, DoLEP will have to take stringent measures,” the official said.

Meanwhile, DoLEP has stated that it has so far scrapped the license of 101 manpower companies, that were found guilty of cheating people in the name of foreign employment as well as failing to renew the licence within the stipulated time.

There are 457 registered foreign employment agencies in the country, while only about 50 per cent are said to be active. According to an unofficial estimate, a total of 300 persons go to various countries each day through these agencies.

Nepal’s strong foreign currency reserve is result of the remittance sent in by migrant workers abroad. The remittance has a great role in maintaining the country’s economy.