Government to allow more firms for medical check-ups of migrants

Kathmandu, May 17

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) has initiated the process to allow other players to conduct medical check-ups of migrant workers seeking job opportunities in Malaysia.

Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security, Gokarna Bista, today said that the Malaysian companies VLN, Mygram and One Stop Centre (OSC), which have been taking extra charges from migrant workers seeking jobs in Malaysia will be asked to close down.

The MoLESS has written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to talk with Malaysian government regarding additional cost that migrant workers have been compelled to pay since long. Nepali workers are compelled to pay additional Rs 9,500 to the Malaysian companies, which do not have valid authority to work in Nepal.

The company named Mygram, which takes online applications from migrant workers for medical check-up charges 125 Malaysian ringgit. The company is not allowed to charge migrant workers and it is illegal, according to Secretary of the Labour Ministry Mahesh Dahal.

Another company is One Stop Centre, which collects passports of migrant workers to apply for visas. OSC charges Rs 2,800 plus value added tax per passport. Another company named GSC defines its works as migration security clearance and charges Rs 3,200 from each migrant worker illegally. “There is huge unseen cost for migrant workers in the name of online visa processing and security clearance and that has been scrapped through a minister-level decision,” as per Secretary Dahal.

Only 39 firms are allowed to conduct medical check-ups of migrant workers. Minister Bista has said that the ministry is preparing to allow the firms approved by the ministry to conduct medical check-ups of migrant workers.