Kathmandu, December 25:

The parliamentary Labour and Industrial Relations Committee today directed the government to furnish exact data of Nepali workers who are stranded in various foreign countries.

The government has no exact data on how many Nepalis, who have migrated to different countries for overseas employment, are stranded, lawmaker and member of the committee, Ganesh Shah, told this daily.

State Minister for Labour and Transport Management, Ramesh Lekhak, assured the committee that the government would take initiatives to collect data of those Nepalis who are stranded in foreign countries.

Lekhak also said the government is also committed to control the trend of illegal migration. “We have initiated dialogue with India through diplomatic channels to control illegal migration,” he informed the committee today.

The committee had also summoned Foreign Secretary Gyan Chandra Acharya, and Labour and Transport Secretary Shyam Mainali today to inform about the current status of the Nepali workers in a foreign land.