Rupak D Sharma

The government is mulling over creating a permanent social safety net for people living below poverty line by guaranteeing them employment opportunities for up to 100 days every year.

To institutionalize the new social protection scheme, the National Planning Commission (NPC) has already prepared a draft of Employment Guarantee for the Underprivileged Act and forwarded it to the Ministry of Finance for approval. “The finance ministry´s endorsement is crucial as we need a budget of around Rs 2 billion every year to launch the scheme,” Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry, NPC vice chairman,, told Republica. He also said the fund could be mobilized from the government coffers as well as donor agencies.

The latest government attempt to help the poor smacks of the Indian legal provision that also guarantees employment for up to 100 days, except that the Indian rule applies to all people living in rural areas, whereas, in Nepal, the scheme is being introduced for people who fall below the poverty line. 

“Whatever it is, we hope these short-term paid jobs would raise the living standard of the poor to some extent and help the government achieve its overarching goal of eliminating poverty,” Kshetri said, expressing hope this would also minimize the labor flight triggered by lack of employment opportunities in the domestic job market.In the draft, NPC has proposed providing such jobs to at least one adult member of every family living below the poverty line. 

"The process of identifying these households will begin as soon as the draft is signed into law," Keshtry said, adding only one adult member of every family will be allowed to participate in the scheme.The latest Nepal Living Standard Survey says 25.16 percent of the total population lives below poverty line. Considering the country´s population of 26.62 million and household size of 4.7, it is estimated at least 1.42 million households fall under the category of "poor". This means the government will need to guarantee jobs for at least 1.42 million people for at least 100 days every year.

To make it easier for the applicants, the government will give them the freedom to choose the job they want for up to 100 days. "Once their proposal is approved, they can receive funds from district development committees or village development committees," Kshetry said, informing these workers would be paid based on going market rate for different jobs and not on the basis of minimum wages fixed by the government for different sectors.

To monitor whether the funds are going to the target groups and whether they are being utilized properly, the government is forming teams in every district and village development committees, whose primary job would be to compile field assessment reports at frequent intervals.

Published on: 20 January 2012 | Republica