The government has reached agreements with these countries that their employers would provide free visa and tickets to the Nepali workers

The manpower agencies are again mounting pressure on the Ministry of Labour and Employment to scrap the free-visa and free-ticket provision to job aspirants in Malaysia and six other Gulf countries. This provision was introduced on July 6 last year with a view to safeguard the interest of thousands of migrant workers. Malaysia, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and Kuwait are the countries where the manpower agencies are required to send the workers without charging any fee in terms of visa or tickets. It is the concerned employers who are required to provide free visa and free tickets to Nepali workers. The Nepal-based manpower agencies can, however, charge just up to Rs. 10,000 from an individual as service charge only on the ground that the employer of the host country did not release the amount. With this decision, the manpower agencies could not charge Rs. 80,000 for Malaysia and Rs. 70,000 for the six Gulf countries. The manpower agencies had been threatening to suspend their business unless the ministry rolled back its

previous decision.

The free visa and free ticket provision was taken by then labour minister Tek Bahadur Gurung. Following this decision the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) didn’t issue work permits to the seven destination countries for failing to submit attested documents of free-visa and free-ticket to the migrant workers. Various organizations have taken to the streets urging the government not to reverse the decision that safeguards the interest of the migrant workers. They have claimed that the manpower agencies were exploiting the job seekers by charging exorbitant amounts from the people without making any investment to find jobs in these countries. Minister for Labour and Employment Deepak Bohara has also vowed to give continuity to the decision of his predecessor. As many as 18 manpower agencies were also raided for charging fee for visa and tickets recently.

It was a commendable on the part of the government to bar manpower agencies from charging money in the name of visa and tickets. The government has reached agreements with these countries that their employers would provide free visa and free tickets to the Nepali workers. Based on this agreement, the government had imposed a ban on charging money from the aspiring workers there. The manpower agencies are not only flouting the rules set by the government but also giving false promises to unsuspecting workers of providing better salaries, accommodation and work conditions. But the latest report of the Amnesty International has exposed how pathetic the working condition of the migrant workers in Qatar is. AI states that most of the workers are not paid on time, cannot change the place for better option due to seizure of their passports and are not provided with minimum facilities of accommodation and medical treatment in case of illness or meeting with an accident. The Nepal government should also take up these issues with the host countries so that the genuine interests of the migrant workers is protected. The government cannot remain mute spectator on the migrants’ rights and welfare as they are helping the country’s economy keep afloat.

For mobility

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development has granted all the 75 districts development committees permission to purchase a motorcycle each for all the secretaries of the village development committees possessing a driving licence  that have access to roads. The maximum amount provided to buy a motorcycle has been fixed at Rs. 250,000. Motorable roads exist in 2,739 out of  3,157 VDCs . The fund for this purpose would be allocated from the unconditional capital grant provided to the VDCs this fiscal year. As the Ministry of Finance has already agreed to the proposal it looks like the secretaries of the VDCs would be facilitated to reach their workplace without hassles. The amount of fuel to be provided to them is yet to be decided. As there are several secretaries working in more than one VDC it would be more convenient for them to commute. This would also help expedite reconstructions works, particularly in the earthquake-hit districts, as the secretaries have a major role to play. With this incentive let us hope that the secretaries of the VDCs will provide services to the people promptly. Meanwhile, 262 VDCs have no secretaries, thus, hampering the essential works of the people.