. Speaking at a meeting of the Industry, Commerce, Labour and Consumer Welfare Committee, Minister for Youth, Labour and Employment Ramji Yadav said the Ministry has come up with various reform programmes to make foreign employment safe, systematic and transparent.
In course of the discussion on foreign employment management in the committee’s meeting, Minister Yadav shared about the activities being carried out by the Ministry regarding the death of Nepali workers in course of foreign employment, health care, labour protection, labour diplomacy and management of employment in various destination countries. According to him, around 700 Nepali workers die of natural causes annually in course of foreign employment and an additional 3
00 to 400 return home due to health problems including kidney failure. He said that special attention should be given to the health security of the workers as the incidents of accidents are also taking place.
“Every year, around
700 workers die due to natural causes. Additional three to four hundred people are returning home due to health problems including kidney failure. Incidents of accidents are also happening. Therefore, it is imperative to implement effective telemedicine services, regular health check-ups and other improvement programs to improve the health security of the workers. Minister Yadav shared that a new web-based telemedicine portal was being created by linking specialist doctors as the existing telemedicine service was not effective. With this, the workers can directly consult specialist doctors as per the need, he said.
He said that the resources of the Foreign Employment Board have not been limited to the deceased and the workers involved in accidents, but the budget has been allocated for the management of the shelters operated under the embassy and the workers taking shelter there.
He also informed that the work procedure for the operation of the shelter is being prepared and handed over to the concerned body.
He said, “We are developing a new web-based telemedicine portal where specialist doctors will also be associated as the existing telemedicine service is not effective.”
With this, the workers will be able to consult a specialist doctor directly as per the requirement. In addition, we have not limited the resources of the Foreign Employment Board to the deceased and accident workers, but have also allocated budget for the management of the shelters under the embassy and the workers taking shelter there. Preparations are underway to hand over the shelter to the concerned body after preparing a working procedure for the operation of the shelter. Stating that adequate orientation was necessary for the workers before going for foreign employment, he said that awareness would be raised on alcohol consumption and indulging in illegal activities as it would pose health and safety problems.
“South Korea’
s Employment Permit System (EPS) is transparent and technology-based and there is no evidence of irregularities,” he said. He clarified that the government would not play the role of selecting or rejecting workers as the employers themselves select workers on the basis of age, skill and language among other criteria.
On the issue of employment in Israel, he said although Nepal made diplomatic initiatives to provide opportunity to the workers left out of the process last year, it was not possible due to Israel’s policy.
He said that the process has been initiated as per the new demand.
Minister Yadav clarified that E-8 (seasonal) employment would not be resumed immediately.
Stating that Nepal has been in the blacklist for three years as many workers who left for 2023 did not return home on time, he said that this decision was taken to prevent the same situation from happening again. He informed that the E-7 process will be carried out after completing the relevant legal process.
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