Government to prioritise skill generation among local workforce

Kathmandu, March 12

Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista, has said that the government will arrange necessary skill and training programmes for newcomers in the domestic labour market.

Addressing the National Youth Leadership Summit 2019 that was held in Kathmandu today, Minister Bista said that the government is introducing skill generating programmes to produce workforce as sought by the Nepali labour market.

“The government has formed a high-level committee in a bid to study the possible measures to be adopted to fill the demand and necessity of the domestic labour market. The committee will identify the supply-demand gap in the domestic market and recommend possible ways to address the gap and suggest measures to generate skilled workforce in the country,” said Bista.

According to him, the government is facing the challenge to match the new workforce that enters the labour market every year and the nature of works available in the labour market.

Minister Bista further said that the government has fixed and implemented the minimum wage for workers in a bid to attract people towards employment opportunities available in the domestic labour market itself. “We have also made it mandatory for employers to make payments to workers through the banking channel, which will ensure that workers get the minimum wage as fixed by the government,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Minister Bista also informed that the various employment-related programmes initiated by the government intends to encourage Nepali workers who are abroad to return to their home country and utilise their skills in the domestic labour market.

“Due to the lack of enough skilled labour force in the country, different enterprises have been compelled to shut down their operations in the recent past. The government urges all Nepali workers to work in the country itself as far as possible,” said Bista.

On the occasion, Bishnu Rimal, chief adviser to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, stated that it was time now to increase the participation of Nepali youths in policy formation and nation development.

Prakash Dahal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, said that the recently launched Prime Minister Employment Programme intends to bring in unemployed Nepali youths in the domestic labour market.