The government move comes amid rising employment insecurity for Nepali workers in the host countries over the past few years.
“Talks are going on between top officials including the secretaries of both MoLTM and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) to set up a focal point comprising senior officials of the two ministries for closely monitoring labor-related problems facing Nepali workers in the overseas labor market,” Tirtha Khanal, assistant spokesperson at MoLTM, told myrepublica.com.
He said joint-secretary and under-secretary level officials of both ministries will be charged with this responsibility.
Dealing with different problems facing Nepali workers has been difficult and time-consuming given the insufficient manpower at most Nepali missions abroad and this on the back of a growing number of workers in the host countries.
Responding to the increasing number of problems, the government is all set to appoint labor attaches at four major labor destinations- Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar- to deal with labor-related issues involving Nepali workers.
Khanal also informed that the government was preparing to use a certain amount from the Worker Welfare Fund created with the levy collected from each overseas worker, to recruit local staff for assisting Nepali mission employees in handling labor-related problems.
Nepali overseas workers have to contribute Rs 500 each to the fund which is meant to be used for their own welfare in case of difficulties in foreign lands.
Around two million Nepalis are working in different labor destinations. More than 239,000 workers left for work overseas during fiscal year 2007/08.
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