Kathmandu, March 1:

The number of Nepalese women jobseekers heading to foreign countries via India is on the rise though they can go from Tribhuwan International Airport of Nepal itself.

According to the latest statistics gleaned by the Department of Labour and Employment Promotion, 963,708 persons set out to foreign lands except India, so far.

However, details of many of them could not be recorded as they left from Indian soil rather than the airport of Nepal.

Likewise, according to a study conducted by NIDS and United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), 78,308 Nepalese women reached foreign countries for job against the record of the Department, thus showing that only 390 women went legally through the domestic airport. It implies that many of them used Indian territory during their trip. Women who head for unorganized areas of foreign employment through illegal way generally land up in difficulties and have been cheated by manpower agencies and their employers as well.

They work as unskilled human resources in the labour market as they go for jobs without required skills and training.

Maiti Nepal chairperson Anuradha Koirala said that if the Nepalese women were banned from using Indira Gandhi International Airport of India while going for foreign employment fewer of them would get cheated.

Most of the outbound Nepalese women mainly go to Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Israel, Maldives, South Korea, Lebanon and other countries in search of jobs.