Kathmandu, June 5 :

In an unprecedented move, the government today said that it would carry out all necessary works for sending industrial trainee workers to South Korea, citing the failure of the concerned manpower agency to adhere to set criteria.

Although a private agency, Moon Drops Overseas Pvt Ltd got approval from the government to send 695 industrial workers to Korea Small and Medium Business Federation (KSMBF), the ministry of labour and transport management (MoLTM) today revoked the permission and said it would do all the work to send the workers.

Moon Drops Overseas failed to meet the criteria of 10 per cent quota for women, conflict victims, dalits and marginalised group, selection of workers through a lucky draw if the demand exceeds five times of the quota and obey the order of the Supreme Court, said Dhurba Kumar Sharma, spokesperson at MoLTM.

The government’s decision came at a time when Moon Drops Overseas has almost finalised sending workers under the regular quota for this year. Following complaints lodged by selected workers from the last quota, the Department of Labour and Employment Promotion two weeks ago had asked Moon Drops Overseas to halt the process.

“Though it is not the job of the government, we don’t want to miss the opportunity. If there was no controversy in the private sector, we wouldn’t have intervened,” Sharma told the reporters.

However, the KSMBF’s position on the government’s unilateral decision is yet to be known. “We have already informed the KSMBF on the matter and we are expecting a positive reply anytime soon,” he said, adding that the government has already taken a political, diplomatic and administrative initiative in order to resolve the problem soon.

Sharma also informed about the detailed processes which will start after the Supreme Court’s decision in cases filed by the Moon Drops Overseas and leftover workers. According to MoLTM officials, the apex court has asked the government to present its position on the matter on Wednesday.

Though the government has fixed a maximum fee of Rs 204,000 per worker for Korea, manpower agencies are said to have been charging exorbitantly. South Korea is one of the most lucrative foreign employment destinations.

However, controversies regarding selection of workers, exorbitant charge and quota allocation are likely to hamper the image of the overall foreign employment sector.