The ministry has appointed Tek Bahadur Khadka, an engineer deputed in Employment Permit System (EPS)-Nepal under the ministry, to coordinate with foreign employment agencies to implement the program.
“Now, we can´t find exact data about the workers departing and arriving to and from labor destinations. Manpower agencies also have not maintained such data so far,” Acharya told myrepublica.com on Sunday. He also said the ministry was developing scientific online database system, realizing the difficulties in formulating plans regarding the foreign employment sector due to the lack of such crucial data.
He said information networking would also be established to exchange data on foreign employment issues between the MoLTM and the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), which will facilitate the ministry to take decision on time.
“We are also uploading the data to central information system to ensure wider accessibility to the information,” added Acharya.
Foreign employment agents have also hailed the new initiative. Som Bataju, vice president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA), welcomed the ministry´s move to make it mandatory for foreign employment agencies to keep record of incoming and outgoing workers. “This would help make manpower agencies more transparent,” Bataju said.
Due to lack of proper system, the government has no exact figure of workers who lost their jobs due to the global recession. According to Foreign Employment Promotion Board, a total of 193 Nepali overseas workers received compensation from the board for facing layoff due to economic recession. However, manpower agencies put the number far higher than the government´s figures. Interestingly, even manpower agencies do not have official records to support their claim.
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