On Sunday, MoFA employees met Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala and reiterated their demand for action against Minister Alam.[break]
They warned of protests if the minister is not punished. They had submitted a memorandum to the prime minister and the foreign minister last week in this regard. A copy of the memorandum was also sent to Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire.
A cabinet source told Republica that minister Alam, who represents Nepali Congress, misbehaved with Bhattarai at the prime minister´s residence last week after the latter suggested the minister about financial implications of appointing labor attachés in countries where they are not needed.
On May 1, the cabinet approved a proposal from the Labor Ministry appointing six labor attachés, without even meeting reasonable minimum qualifications. The attachés come from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Local Development, Prime Minister´s Office and the National Planning Commission, violating the condition that they should be selected through internal competition among candidates who have a good command of English and knowledge of the foreign employment sector. Only one attaché was from the Labor Ministry. Minister Alam was not available for comment.
The incident comes six months after State Minister Karima Begum, who represents Madheshi People´s Rights Forum (Democratic), slapped Chief District Office of Parsa Durga Prasad Bhandari for not providing a car of her choice.
MoFA officials said that they are concerned over the government decision to pick labor attachés from other services as it has undermined diplomatic service that, they say, have more qualified persons to handle labor issues.
This is the second time the government has appointed labor attachés from non-diplomatic services despite opposition from the MoFA officials. Earlier last year, four attachés were appointed. Salary and facilities that attachés posted in foreign countries are entitled to lures officials from other services to vie for the post.
A MoFA official said Nepal does not send its people to work in Oman where the government appointed an attaché last week and people working there are illegal ones. Nepal even does not have its diplomatic representation in the country.
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