After the government made it mandatory for all migrant workers to verify their employment contract and visa with the concerned embassy, the Doha-based Nepali Embassy has witnessed an unprecedented surge in the number of service seekers.

 

This influx of migrant workers is so massive that the embassy is unable to attend to clients’ concerns in a swift and efficient manner. Even the token system introduced to ensure efficient service delivery has failed—a token-holding client has to wait for at least a month before receiving a service.

 

After the government turned down the embassy’s request to recruit additional staff, the Nepali expatriate community in Qatar has come to its rescue. The community has pledged salary and perks of two staff to be hired for the embassy.

 

The community has invited applications for the posts, offering a monthly remuneration of 2,000 riyals (around Rs 44,000). The Non-Resident Nepali Association in Qatar has collected and handed over 16,653 riyals (around Rs 333,000) to the embassy. RK Sharma, a Qatar-based Nepali businessman, has pledged to pay the salary to one staff for at least six months.

 

“We have arranged for the funds to deal with the situation urgently. We plan to exert pressure on the Nepal government to provide additional staff for the embassy,” said Amrit Gurung, president of the association.

 

Noting that the new regulation of verifying the employment contract has generated more revenue, Gurung said the government should not have any problem appointing new staff to the embassy. “While the embassy is posting a growth in revenue collection, we are forced to collect donations from migrant workers to hire staff for it.”

 

The embassy collects Rs 350,000 daily after the regulation was enforced. Earlier, the daily revenue collection hovered around Rs 80,000.

 

“The embassy is understaffed and we have been requesting the government to appoint more employees. So far, we have not received any response from the government,” said Ambassador Suryanath Mishra.

 

He said the embassy with nine staff cannot provide timely and effective services to an ever-growing number of clients, even when the employees work extra time. The government inaction has sent a negative message to the migrant workers, said Mishra. “Thanks to the support shown by the Nepali expatriates, we hope to have some respite ahead.”