Pratap Bista

The government-stated retirement age is 58. Yet, the labour force comprises mostly senior citizens

Indraman Ghalan of Lekpandrang in Bhimphedi Rural Municipality Ward No. 3 is grey with age but he still works as a labourer.

Ghalan, who is in his late seventies, spends his days working at the construction site of the Bhaise-Bhimphedi road. He earns a living cleaning roadside drains and fixing small potholes on the road. “I started working as a labourer since I was 12. At that time I started working, I worked on the Tribhuvan Rajpath stretch,” he shares.

While working in Tribhuvan Rajpath, Ghalan used to receive Rs 50 as monthly salary. Today, he earns Rs 20,000 every month. But if he misses even one day of work, his salary gets deducted. Ghalan said, “I come to work even when I fall sick, because if I don’t then my salary gets cut.“I have already entered old age but I can’t get any pension, gratuity or allowances or any other facilities even after I left the job,” he said. He had been working as a daily wage worker for the past 64 years.

Govinda Acharya, 57, of Pathalaiya in Bara, has also been working as a labourer for a majority of his life. He said, “We have spent our whole lives working as road labourers, but we don’t have anything.”The government-stated mandatory retirement age is 58. But many labourers are comprised of senior citizens.

On Friday, the 6th general assembly of the Nepal Sadak Majdur Trade Union was held in Hetauda, where a majority of participants bemoaned that the government had not taken any concern towards the problems of the road labourers.

Rameshraj Paudel, vice chairman of the Nepal Sadak Majdur Trade Union, said that the government had agreed to provide gratuity to the road labours three years ago. “But the agreement has not been implemented yet. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructures had agreed to provide gratuity with the trade union. Labours have been warning to stage demonstrations demanding to implement the decision,” said Paudel.

There are 2,447 road laborers working under 34 Division Road Offices across the country. Around 400 road labours have gathered for the two-day assembly.

Published on: 28 December 2019 | The Kathmandu Post