The Ministry has cited the absence of a labor minister as its reason for stopping the issuance of compensation. The kith and kin of the workers who died in foreign labor destinations stated that their requests have fallen on deaf ears; the concerned officials do not care, and the families have not been able to move forward the process of acquiring the relief amount from the Foreign Employment Promotion Board (FEPB).
"Yes, the family members of the deceased do frequently visit our office and seek the relief amount. But, we cannot dispatch the amount in the absence of a labor minister," Sthaneswore Devkota, executive director the FEPB, told myrepublica.com on Tuesday.
Among the more glaring of cases not addressed, the distributing of relief to the families of 15 deceased workers has been blocked because an FEPB board meeting has not been held since the Maoists quit the government on May 4. Going by the existing provision, the executive director can approve the relief amount, but to provide the disbursement, he needs the consent of the labor minister, who functions as the chairman of the board.
The compensation is provided through the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund, which was created from the contributions of the outbound workers, and as per the regulations, the family members of deceased workers are entitled to receive Rs 100,000 as compensation from the fund.
So far, the board has provided the compensation amount to the families of 48 victims. The government had created the fund on February 20, 2008, making it mandatory for the overseas workers to contribute Rs 500 each to the fund before they left for the foreign job.
Later on April 14, 2009, the government had increased the contribution amount to Rs 1,000 per outbound worker. About Rs 160 million has been collected in the fund since its establishment.
The fund also covers for the dependents of those workers who took on overseas jobs before the establishment of the fund, but their disbursement must be approved by the cabinet.
Under this arrangement, the board has already recommended to the labor ministry to get the cabinet´s nod for compensating the families of 37 deceased workers who had departed before the establishment of the fund.
"Of the total 37 such cases, 21 have been sent to the cabinet, but the process of sending the remaining 16 recommendations has not proceeded yet. The absence of the concerned minister has added to the woes of the victims´ families," said Devkota.
The absence of a labor minister has also affected the earlier planned visit by a Nepali delegation to Israel. The delegation was visiting Isreal to request Israel to resume accepting Nepali workers, a process had stalled three months ago.
Meanwhile, the board has provided compensations amounting to Rs 1.4 million to the 149 workers who were laid off due to the deepening financial crisis in the different labor destinations.
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