Govt to give salaries to unemployed

Kathmandu, July 22

The government today said it has plans to provide 50 per cent of the minimum wage for 120 days if none of the members of a family are employed for a year. The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) has prepared the draft of the ‘Prime Minister Employment Programme’, which includes the aforementioned provision under the heading of life sustainability allowance.

The government had set a minimum wage of Rs 13,450 for workers on July 9. Hence, such families will receive Rs 26,900 annually.

As per the draft of the programme, the government will soon establish an ‘Employment Service Centre’ at all local bodies to collect data of unemployed youths. Moreover, MoLESS has plans to identify unemployed youths and provide them employment based on their skills.

According to Gokarna Bista, minister for labour, employment and social security, the government will distribute unemployment identity cards to those who have not been employed and try to deploy them in government identified sectors. MoLESS will provide salaries to such youths as per relevant documents and attendance through the banking channel.

To implement the programme, MoLESS has made a three-year working plan. According to the working plan, the government will finish collecting data on unemployment youths and give them unemployment identity cards within one year. It also plans to provide jobs to 100,000 youths within a year.

MoLESS has said it will finalise the necessary laws within four months. It has plans to generate employment for more than 500,000 people by fiscal year 2021-22 and the government believes that this will help stop youth going abroad for foreign employment.

Furthermore, to implement the programme, a high-level directive committee will be formed under the leadership of the prime minister. Moreover, there will be federal coordination committees which will be led by the minister for labour, employment and social security and federal implementation committees led by the secretary at the labour ministry. Provincial coordination and monitoring committees will also be established in every province, which will be led by the minister for social development.

Moreover, there will be district coordination and monitoring committees led by the heads of the district coordination committees, and local level implementation committees which will be led by the heads of the local bodies. The programme has also included the provision of an independent third-party monitoring committee for its effective implementation.

As per the programme, the unemployment identity card holders could likely be employed in cold stores, plastic ponds and in other agriculture sectors. Moreover, there are plans to hire such unemployed youths in the energy, tourism and drinking water sectors, among other areas.