Purna Chandra Bhattarai, joint secretary, Ministry of Labor and Transport Management, said the program to be supported by International Organization for Migration (IOM) -- a global body working for safe migration -- includes technical capacity enhancement of offices under the MoLTM, establishment of service centers to provide information about foreign employment and review and reform of existing policy on foreign employment.
“The program is mainly focused on ensuring safe migration for Nepali workers heading to different labor destinations by enhancing capacity of the government in dealing with different problems plaguing the foreign employment sector,” Bhattarai told myrepublica.com on Sunday.
The program -- Technical Assistance of the Government of Nepal to Enhance Positive Impact of Labor Migration -- will be launched for a year-long period from September with the assistance of $200,000 from the IOM.
Nepal and IOM agreed in 2007 to forge mutual co-operation for safe migration of Nepali workers in different labor destinations.
Under the program, the government will set up information centers across the country to provide correct information about the recipient countries and nature of works to interested workers.
Due to the lack of authorized government agency to provide information about migration, overseas workers have to rely on manpower agencies, which mostly do not provide authentic information, putting workers in a really difficult situation.
Bhattarai said 14 existing labor information centers set up under the MoLTM would be utilized to provide correct information about migration to interested workers. Under the program, the government will also install screen display system at the Tribhuwan International Airport to provide information about migration to outbound workers.
The government had set up 14 labor information centers in all zones last year to collect data of employed youths.
“We will immediately set up migration centers - one in the capital and one out of the capital - as a pilot project in the first phase. We will then expand the service to other labor information centers,” Bhattarai added.
Under the program, the government will also provide information related to safe migration and skill enrichment trainings to workers while issuing passports. Though the government has made it mandatory for workers to take job-related training before leaving for labor destinations, it has not been effectively implemented in the absence of proper monitoring mechanism.
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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