Legislators have opined that the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund and Social Security Fund should be utilized in development projects.

 

Speaking at a meeting of International Relations and Labor Committee of parliament on Sunday, members of the committee called for utilization of such funds in development projects.

 

Responding to the call, Minister for Labor and Employment Deepak Bohara said that the fund cannot be channelized anywhere unless necessary laws are made by the parliament. Stating that a bill laying out operation procedure of the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund Act was under the parliament's consideration and the bill governing Social Security Fund will be tabled soon, Minister Bohara said that endorsement of such laws as soon as possible was the must to utilize the funds for development projects. He said that the funds were lying idle in the absence of the laws to operate them.

 

He also said that the money cannot be distributed to migrant workers who go for the foreign employment illegally. "Without documentation of the workers, the government cannot distribute relief to the migrant workers," added Bohara.

 

Also speaking at the meeting, Minister for Industry Som Prasad Pandey said that the government was committed toward utilizing the social security fund. "The fund, however, cannot be used in rehabilitation and refinancing purposes. The fund should be utilized for the purpose that it was established for," he added.

 

Data of Foreign Employment Promotion Board shows that a total of Rs 3.3 billion has been collected in the fund until the end of last Fiscal Year 2014/15. Earlier every migrant worker was required to contribute Rs 500 in the fund. The contribution amount was raised to Rs 1,000 per worker from last fiscal year.

 

The Foreign Employment Welfare Fund was established to provide relief to the worker and their family when the worker is caught into problem, return becoming injured, and die while working abroad, among other reasons.