Workers to get salary through bank in Humla

Published On: July 23, 2017 08:53 AM NPT By: Janak Bahadur Shahi


HUMLA, July 22: Workers in Humla district will receive salaries through the banking system from now on. The wages of the workers of various development projects will be directly deposited to their bank accounts.

Until now, the workers used to get their wages through the consumer committees. The banking service has been introduced for the workers in order to control the financial irregularities by the consumer committees.

One of the workers, Dhanalal Kami, of Simikot-5 said that they did not get their full payment when paid through the consumer committee.

They now get the exact amount determined by the Karnali Employment Program (KEP) as the wage is not directly deposited to their bank accounts, he further said.

This is not a new issue in Humla for consumer committees to take their portion from workers’ salary. However, after receiving a complaint from the workers last year, then Local Development Officer Baldev Prashad Joshi had announced that the salaries would be distributed via the banking system.

It is according to the announcement that salaries are now being given through the banking system, said Lok Bahadur Sunar, secretary of District Coordination Committee (DCC).
According to Sunar, the use of banking system would help prevent controversies regarding the workers’ salary.   

Since the last 10 years, KEP is working in the district for development and social security, and the banking system has been introduced in order to ensure that the workers in the development sector get their full wages, said Saroj Bhandari, project engineer for Simikot rural municipality.     

He said that this system could be applied across the district if banking facility were available. Bhandari further said that the system will not only benefit the workers but will also bring quality change in the projects. Until two years ago 27 former village development committees used to misuse the budget of KEP. This program has benefited 2798 households of seven rural municipalities in the district. Currently the seasonal farmers, families who have the license for the disabled, families handled by single women, conflict victims, minorities, indigenous people and landless workers are prioritized as beneficiaries of the project, Bhandari informed Republica.

In the fiscal year 2016/17, the project had carried out construction projects worth Rs 62 million. The projects included 27 rural roads, one sports ground and one fencing. A worker working 51 days earned as much as Rs 24,893, whereas a worker working for the minimum 28 days earned Rs 13,524. According to the going rates in the district, a worker gets Rs 470 a day, Bhandari added. Of the total amount, 80 percent is payable to the worker and 20 percent accounts for their labor contribution.

Total 15.51 kilometers of rural roads and 4.5 kilometers of foot trails have been constructed, which has benefitted 907 women, 1690 men, 489 minorities and 773 indigenous households, according to the project records.


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