THE government on Friday appointed labour attachés in six labour destination countries following months of friction between the two line ministries over the issue.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) had given a nod to appoint labour attachés in Kuwait and South Korea—for the first time—apart from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Malaysia. A proposal forwarded by the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management (MoLTM) to appoint such officials had been gathering dust in the MoFA since May. “Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha had instructed the officials not to create obstacles in the appointment of labour attachés that led to finalisation of the issue,” said a senior MoFA official. The new appointees are Amal Kiran Dhakal (Malaysia), Krishna Hari Puskar (South Korea), Chandeshwor Acharya (Saudi Arabia), Hira Devi Poudel (UAE), Srijana Tiwari Panta (Kuwait) and Indra Dev Pandey (Qatar). The MoFA and MoLTM have also agreed to review provisions of labour attachés by amending the Foreign Employment Act. “A joint panel has been formed in this respect,” said officials.

MoLTM was earlier preparing to appoint labour attachés in 10 destination countries including four other nations—Japan, Hong Kong, Israel and Oman. But its proposal was nixed. The appointment of labour attachés had sparked controversy between the two ministries. “It is now clear that labour attaché should work under guidance of the ambassador in the respective country and that s/he should not take up labour issues directly with the host country,” said the official. According to the Foreign Employment Act, the government should appoint labour attachés in those countries which have received more than 5,000 Nepali migrant workers or over 1,000 women migrant workers have been registered with the government. However, the government’s failure to maintain record of the Nepali migrant workers has created confusion over labour attaché appointment.