CHANDAN KUMAR MANDAL

Services for migrant workers have been decentralised with the government deciding to issue re-entry labour permits from outside Kathmandu for the first time.

In the first phase, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has decided to issue permits from Janakpur of Province 2 and Butwal of Province 5 from Sunday. The labour and employment offices in the provinces will cater to the foreign employment needs of youths who have returned after their first job stint in a foreign country.

“These offices have been set up with an aim to decentralise services related to foreign employment to the targeted public,” Labour Ministry Spokesperson Narayan Regmi told the Post. The motive is to reach closer to beneficiaries with the services, he added.

Availability of re-entry work permits from cities outside Kathmandu is expected to minimise hassles for a worker. Earlier, a worker wishing to go back to the foreign job destination after vacation would have to travel to Kathmandu for the permit.

The Foreign Employment Office based in Tahachal, Kathmandu, was the sole office to issue the permits.

Now workers won’t have to travel all the way to Kathmandu and stay in line for hours for getting the re-entry permit as they can get it from places close to them, said Regmi.

According to the official, the extension of foreign employment services to provinces 2 and 5 came on the basis of the number of migrant workers. Statistics show that Province 2 has the highest number of workers leaving the country.

The Labour Ministry is planning to provide similar services from the remaining provinces within a month. Labour and employment offices have been set up in the seven provinces. For Province 3, the Tahachal office will continue to issue labour permits.

Besides issuing re-entry permits, the provincial offices will monitor recruiting agencies, oversee pre-departure training and orientation centres, and disseminate information on foreign employment and safer labour migration while addressing the grievances of workers.

Published: 30 December 2018 | The Kathmandu Post