Kathmandu, June 26

Just looking at the numbers, Prime Minister Employment Programme could be hailed as the most successful government programme, with local levels spending over 36 per cent of the allocated budget in a month. However, a deeper look into the implementation of the programme reveals that the authorities concerned seem to be bending all the rules to spend the allocated budget for this fiscal.

Announced through the budget of this fiscal, but implemented only on February 12, the government has allocated Rs 3.10 billion for the programme in the ongoing fiscal year. While Rs 100 million is to be spent for the management of the programme, Rs 3 billion is for programme implementation. As per the Ministry of Finance, local levels have already spent more than Rs 1.12 billion under PMEP for one month.

Among the beneficiaries of PMEP is Sima Khadka, a permanent resident of Sunsari, living in Kathmandu. Her job is to clean Gahana Pokhari and plant flowers. But as per the PMEP working procedure, only permanent residents of that area are eligible for jobs under PMEP; however, she has a home in Kathmandu too.

Another beneficiary, Saroj Bhojhemaye, a permanent resident of Bhaktapur Municipality, has been mobilised to clean the road. The assigned job, however, falls under the jurisdiction of the Division Road Office of Bhaktapur and Bhaktapur Municipality. These cases highlight the gross misuse of human resources as well as the funds allocated to the programme.

Earlier, the government had identified agriculture, cooperatives, livestock, development, energy, irrigation and river barrage, drinking water and sanitation, forest and environment and tourism promotion as working sectors for PMEP. Roads and transportation, education, youth and sports, reconstruction, community infrastructure construction, large sized and national pride projects, information and telecommunication, industry and health sectors have also been identified.

Prakash Dahal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, admitted to ‘some confusion’ in implementation of the programme. “Since this is a new programme, there are bound to be some lapses, but we’ll ensure proper implementation from the next fiscal,” he said.

According to him, employment officers at local levels are yet to submit unemployment data to the ministry. “Once we have the data, the government will strictly implement PMEP.”

Labour experts, on the other hand, have termed the programme — which is supposed to be crucial in reducing joblessness in the country — ‘a total mess’.

“Rather than benefiting unemployed people at grassroot levels, the programme has become a job provider for political cadres,” alleged Ganesh Gurung, a labour expert. “It is a total mess.”

Meanwhile, Govinda Bahadur Khadka, chairperson of Likhu Tamakoshi Village Municipality of Ramechhap, pointed out another problem hampering proper implementation of the programme. “The ceiling per project under the PMEP has been set at Rs 500,000, but the amount is insufficient to carry out any project identified by the working procedure.”

International Labour Organisation Country Director Richard S Howard, in a recent interview with THT, had also mentioned that the government had failed to introduce elements that would create sustainable jobs for the unemployed people through PMEP. “The initiative taken by the government is praiseworthy, but it has failed to address sector-wise employment issues,” he had said.