Over 1,000 unemployed youths from the Kathmandu Metropolitan City have applied for work at the labour bank initiated by the metropolis, while around 400 have been employed by the city office itself.

Officials at the labour bank of the metropolis said that the number of unemployed seeking employment has been rising of late.

“Many people, even if they are unemployed, do not know about the services initiated by the metropolis,” said Pawan Kumar Thakur, coordinator of the labour bank of the metropolis. “Number of people seeking employment has been rising significantly of late.”

Officials at the KMC said that the labour bank has been started to assist unemployed youths to find jobs and help private organisations, companies and business entities operating in the metropolis in finding the required workforce.

The City office itself has given employment to around 400 jobseekers in the infrastructure building, repair and maintenance, cleaning, environmental conservation, and river cleaning, among other sectors.

“We are hiring over 50 cleaning staff who have applied in the labour bank to clean the rivers of the metropolis,” said Rabinman Shrestha, chief of the Environment Department of the KMC. “Around two dozen staff have already been employed for river cleaning.”

The metropolis has also been using excavators to remove objects stuck in the middle of the river. Hundreds of tons of garbage have already been removed from the Bagmati and Bishnumati river.

Apart from this, the city office has mobilised dozens of staffers to keep the city clean.

The city office has also hired 300 cleaning staff—150 men and 150 women—who are being deployed to collect waste discarded in public places, including roadsides.

According to Thakur, anybody—whether educated or uneducated, skilled or unskilled—can apply for a job at the labour bank if they are unemployed. However, one should be a metropolis' resident or a temporary resident to apply for the job. Locals from two local units of Banchare Danda landfill site can also apply.

“Engineers, electricians, painters, plumbers, and painters have applied for the jobs,” said Thakur. “Anyone having any kind of skill can apply. We do not charge anything from the unemployed youths and one can apply online.”

Officials said that organisations and companies can also approach the metropolis for workforce. They say that they will link companies and unemployed youths.

According to officials, one can apply for a job in electrical, electronics, computer and laptop maintenance; cutting and sewing; beauty parlour and saloon; in hospitality as cook and barista; in construction as tiles and marble fitter; agriculture; professional computer hardware networking and CCTV camera installation; software development; plumbing; as construction labourer and mason; in motorcycle repair and maintenance; and carpentry, among others.

The KMC has also started segregating household waste as degradable and non-degradable at its waste transfer station in Teku and landfill site in Bancharedanda. Officials say that waste segregation has started from wards 5, 12 and 27.

Non-degradable waste such as plastic and metal will be sold while the degradable variety will be transferred to the dumping site, they said.

Waste segregation at the source was one of the measures that Mayor Balendra Shah said would help solve Kathmandu’s chronic garbage problem. After he assumed office, Shah had asked city residents to start segregating waste at home. But the measure didn’t work out, largely due to a lack of preparation on the KMC’s part.

Kathmandu Valley generates over 1,200 tonnes of solid waste every day, nearly 60 percent of which comes from the KMC alone. Experts say 60 percent of organic waste originating in the Valley can be converted into compost and the remaining 30 percent of non-degradable waste can be recycled.

Published on: 4 April 2024 | The Kathmandu Post