Kathmandu, July 19

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has issued a circular to all local levels, directing them to collect details of unemployed people in their respective areas and prepare a list by August 23, according to a letter of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security.

The government on July 14, had decided to extend the deadline for preparation of a list of unemployed persons by one month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Collection of details of unemployed persons is aimed at implementing the Prime Minister Employment Programme of the government. MoLESS has already mobilised employment coordinators for this purpose. The coordinators will collect data of the unemployed persons at the respective local levels, update it and provide identity cards to the listed unemployed people.

The directive issued yesterday has asked local governments to collect such details in coordination with the assigned employment coordinators. The government has asked the local units to use one of their staffers to collect such details where an employment coordinator has not been deputed.

Unveiled on February 13, the Prime Minister Employment Programme guarantees jobs for a minimum of 100 to those who are unemployed. The scheme also ensures that all unemployed people will get 50 per cent of the minimum wage if they remain unemployed for 100 days a year. The amount that the government will dole out will be equivalent to 50 per cent of the government-set minimum monthly wage of Rs 13,450 for 100 days.

Recently, the federal government had provided additional conditional grant of total Rs 3,032 million to 190 local levels for the implementation of the programme.

The conditional grants have to be spent to ensure the employment of listed unemployed persons, MoFAGA said.

Beneficiary identity cards shall be issued to the listed unemployed persons before assigning them to work in development projects. The projects where the listed unemployed persons are provided with employment opportunities are road construction, agriculture, irrigation, rural water supply, health, sanitation, education, forest and tourism and other labour-centric projects.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 20, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.