The post Nepal Introduces New System for Nepali Migrant Workers appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>Operated by the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), the Foreign Employment Information Management System (FEIMS) will keep detailed records of all migrant workers returning to Nepal for the first time.
“There had been data deficit on the actual number of migrant workers in foreign countries and those returning to Nepal after serving their job contract. The FEIMS will improve the data shortage condition,” says Gokarna Bista, Nepal Labor Minister.
The FEIMS website also has a supporting mobile application along with all the foreign employment and related agencies linked to it on a single platform, which include the Department of Passport, Department of Consular Services, Department of Foreign Employment, Department of Immigration, recruiting agencies, among other key agencies.
The new system also oversees employment verification procedures by Nepali missions at the foreign destinations along with gathering information on workers’ arrivals, informed the Ministry Secretary Mahesh Prasad Dahal.
“The system will provide real-time information and facilitate workers and manpower companies in their respective need. Additionally, it will also register workers’ grievances,” says Dahal.
FIEMS database will have integrated information and services concerning foreign employment at a place with consolidated data from all related agencies.
Now, workers can also apply for labor permits with ease as FIEMS issues a barcode-integrated sticker that will be unique for every application avoiding duplication.
Ease in making insurance payments online, access to medical reports, track the progress of complaints are among other benefits the new system or its mobile application offers, informed the DoFE engineer Raju Shrestha.
“Besides providing services online to recruiting agencies and workers, the system will keep a check on efficiency of government officials. Incidents of files being lost that happened in the past will not happen,” says Shrestha.
Till date, the government was maintaining migrant workers’ data based on the number of work permits issued. However, they realized that wouldn’t be a reliable approach to keep track of Nepali migrants working in foreign destinations.
“We have adopted the latest technology to improve foreign employment sector, making it more transparent and crack down misconduct going on under the cover of foreign employment,” says Bista.
Hope the new system would address discrepancies involving agents, insurance claims, employment, among other concerns haunting Nepali migrant workers.
Read More:
- Integrated System to Address Government Woes on Migrant Info
- Task Force Suggests New Destinations for Nepali Migrants
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]]>The post Nepal Federal Budget FY 2018-19: Infrastructure Gets Major Push! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>Let’s have a glance at some of the key sectors that received major infrastructure push in the new budget:
Energy
With energy sector on top priority, the government allocated Rs 83.39 billion for enhancing the country’s energy infrastructure alone in the coming fiscal.
With a target of equipping all the households with modern energy within three years and further with sufficient energy supply within five years, the government plans to call 2019-2029 as the ‘Energy Decade’.
The budget also envisages construction of multipurpose hydropower projects across all provinces and begin construction of the same within two years period. The government is also planning to construct a 3,000-MW capacitive hydropower project with the combined investment of government, public and remittance funds.
There are also plans to develop a good number of micro-hydro projects and biogas plants to electrify the rural areas of the country.
Transport
Transport is another area that received a major boost in the present budget with an allocation of Rs 109.38 billion.
Some of the high-profile projects include cable car and monorail projects in Kathmandu, construction of the East-west railway line, Kathmandu-Nijgadh Expressway, Postal Highway, Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway and link roads connecting all the districts touching the southern border to the Pushpalal Mid-hill Highway, among others.
The new budget also envisages construction of new airports across the country.
The government has allocated a budget of Rs 1.43 billion for the transportation management system and is also developing relevant government agencies in all the provinces.
Tourism
Tourism is one sector that is of high significance for Nepal. The new budget has Rs 5.20 billion allocated for the overall development of Nepali tourism sector.
While the country reached 1 million target at the end of 2017, the new budget envisages a 2 million annual tourist arrival target by the end of 2020. Strengthening the domestic tourism to drive in more tourist inflow, the government is planning to develop 100 new tourist destinations and diversify tourist services across the country.
The government also has plans to develop the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism by mobilizing the country’s foreign missions. To facilitate ways for tourist arrivals, more number of airports are also being planned at various tourist destinations of the country.
Towards getting academic support, the government is also aiming at the conversion of the Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) into a deemed university.
Other key areas that received due attention for overall infrastructure development include:
- Economic Affairs- Rs 483.14 billion
- General Public Service – Rs 396.74 billion
- Housing & Community Amenities – Rs 66.57 billion
- Public Order & Security – Rs 47.50 billion
- Social Protection – Rs 46.91 billion
- Defense – Rs 44.93 billion
- Environment Protection – Rs 22.72 billion
- Recreation, Culture & Religion – Rs 7.10 billion
Overall, the new budget paid due attention to the infrastructure development across the country as a key to achieve the economic growth.
Next: Budget Gets Mixed Response
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]]>The post Nepal Federal Budget 2018-19: Highlights & Key Announcements appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>In a landmark move, Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada presented the country’s Rs 1.31 trillion (Rs 81, 750 crore) budget for the Fiscal Year 2018-19 in the Federal Parliament.
Making a strong pitch for infrastructure development, the new budget by the Oli-led Nepal Government brought some significant changes towards adding more revenue to the government treasury, job creation, tackling inflation and FDI, along with a special focus on strengthening local bodies and domestic industries.
Budget Allocation for FY 2018-19, By Ministry
Here are some of the key budgetary announcements from the Nepal Federal Budget FY 2018-19:
1) Economic Growth: Through the latest budget FY 2018-19, the Government of Nepal is aiming at an 8 percent economic growth in the next fiscal.
Here it is noteworthy that the economic growth projection for the current fiscal remained at 5 percent in contrast to the government’s expected rate of 7.2 percent.
2) Tax Regime: This time the government is more serious on taxes as evident in the pitch made for revenue collection to the government’s treasury in the budget announced.
According to the Finance Minister, Nepal will now have five income tax slabs.
However, the new budget gave some relaxation to taxpayers by reducing the tax bracket for those earning Rs 3.5-4.5 lakh/annum from 15 percent to 10 percent, subjecting those earning below Rs 3.5 lakh/annum to 1 percent tax.
3) Allocation to Provinces: The new budget laid special focus on strengthening of local bodies in a move towards achieving overall development. For the first time in Nepali annual budget history, the new government allocated separate funds for the development of provinces.
The financial resource allocation will be done in three different forms as grants, conditional grants, and project finance. Besides, separate allocations were also done for special hi-profile projects enhancing transport connectivity.
4) Education: Continuing the past trend, the education sector received the highest budgetary allocation in the Federal Budget for FY’19. In line with the global norms to dedicate 20 percent of a nation’s overall budget to education, the new budget saw the allocation of 10.19 percent (Rs 134.5 billion) of the total budget to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, compared to 10.09 percent of the previous fiscal.
The budget envisages the development of a technical school across all local bodies along with goals to attain free and compulsory school education gradually, access to high-speed Internet across every public school and achieve 100 percent literacy in two years.
5) Creating Jobs: In a move strengthening the country’s employment portfolio, the new budget pitched for creation of more employment opportunities across the country.
According to the Finance Minister, the government is looking at creating around 500,000 jobs in the coming fiscal. This number draws significance in the wake of the current scenario where a large number of Nepali youth are moving abroad for career opportunities.
6) Healthcare: Healthcare is key to any country and Nepal is no exception. Nepali healthcare sector saw an allocation of around Rs 56.41 billion in the new budget for FY 2018-19, up from around Rs 32 billion of the previous fiscal.
Under the development plans, the government plans to ensure free basic health services and setting up health centers with at least one doctor across all local governments.
Expansion of the health insurance program across the nation and free essential medicine are among plans for the government.
7) Luxury Items: The new budget called for a hike on bikes with engines more than 150cc and cars with engines above 2,000 cc. Terming such vehicles as luxury items, the government said such vehicles would have a negative impact on the country’s foreign reserves.
8) Immigration: In a move promoting local talent and wooing its migrant populace, the Federal Budget announced a project loan of up to Rs 1 million for returnee migrants depending on their skill-set. As part of the fiscal budget, another Rs 700,000 has also been allocated to the youth population as a loan supporting their education.
Continued... Infrastructure Gets Major Push!
Download the Full Budget Speech
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]]>The post Nepali Migrants: National Migration Health Policy on Cards appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>In this regard, the Ministry of Health held discussions with the UN Migration Agency, International Organization for Migration (IOM), in Kathmandu on October 12, 2017.
Speaking on the matter, the IOM Nepal Chief of Mission Paul Norton said the Sustainable Development Goal 3.8 on universal health coverage cannot be achieved without addressing the health needs of migrants and refugees.
“This policy will provide an opportunity to promote a more coherent and integrated approach to heal, beyond the treatment of specific diseases for all populations, including migrants, irrespective of their legal and migratory status,” Norton added.
In its statement, IOM informed that the policy would address health concerns of the Nepali migrants at all stages of the migrant process while also protecting host communities from public health threats related to migration.
NMHP is part of the project, ‘Strengthening Government Capacity in the Development and Implementation of a National Strategic Action Plan on Migration and Health in Nepal,’ put forth by IOM in collaboration with the Nepali Health Ministry, and is funded by IOM Development Fund.
Migrants Key to Nepali Economy
According to IOM, Nepali migrants have made a major contribution towards the economic development of Nepal.
As per the Department of Foreign Employment, over 50 percent of all the Nepalis households currently have at least one migrant from their family living abroad or in Nepal as a returnee.
In terms of remittance-receiving countries, Nepal stands 23rd in global ranking and 3rd in terms of the contribution to GDP through remittances after Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic, IOM informed.
UN agencies, Nepali Government officials, development partners, academia, NGO, private sector firms and media are among those who attended the meeting.
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]]>The post Nepalis For Foreign Jobs: New Set of Migrant Workers to Korea Ready appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>Nepali job aspirants willing to pursue employment in Korea are all set to start leaving for the latter country beginning from the last week of November 2017.
The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) made an official announcement in this regard, recently.
According to the department, all the Nepali migrants approved for foreign employment in Korea have passed the Korean Language Test (KLT) conducted by the Government of South Korea under the Employment Permit System (EPS).
“We are planning to complete the medical tests of all the eligible job aspirants and fill their job application forms within two weeks after Tihar festival,” said Baburam Khatiwada, Director of EPS Korea Section.
Baburam further informed that the approved list of applicants (after medical tests) will be sent to the South Korean Government, which will then issue the Certificate for Confirmation of Visa Issuance (CCVI) for the Nepali migrants.
“If everything goes as planned, job-seekers who have passed the KLT will start leaving for South Korea from the end of November,” Baburam added.
This selection is part of the Human Resources Development Service of Korea’s process, under which, the KLT-passed candidates are given an opportunity to apply for jobs in Korea on a roster basis.
However, the validity of KLT is only for two years and those who clear the test cannot apply for jobs in Korea after two years.
Nepali Migrants to Korea for Work on Rise
There has been an upward trend in the number of Nepalis seeking employment in South Korea, in the recent years.
According to the official data, the number of Nepali KLT applicants has increased from 61,637 in 2016 to 68,000 by 2017.
Meanwhile, the labor demand in South Korea for 2018 has been projected at a three-fold rise to 10,200 against 3,100 of 2017, says the EPS Korea Section.
In line with the growing Nepali job-seekers, the Government of South Korea has also been boosting the labor quota for Nepal, every year.
So far, a total of 43,000 Nepali migrant workers were allowed to work in Korea under EPS, while 11,000 workers have already returned post the completion of their 58-month job placement.
A Nepali labor in Korea earns 1,236,000 won (around USD 1,075) per month.
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]]>The post Now, Foreign-born Nepali Children Can Get Native Passports appeared first on Nepali Sansar.
]]>The government took an official decision in this regard at a council of ministers meeting held in Kathmandu on September 11, 2017.
According to the Information and Communication Minister and Government Spokesperson Mohan Bahadur Basnet, the passports to be granted to the foreign-born Nepali children will have a maximum validity period of four years.
“Once they are adults, they can receive the passport with 10 years validity after receiving citizenship,” says the Minister. Earlier, the Nepali Government thought of setting the validity period of two years to the Nepalese living abroad.
Citizenship Certificates Also a Major Concern
Getting a citizenship certificate has also been a matter of serious concern for many Nepali citizens.
One such case was reported in Kathmandu District Administration Office (KDAO) earlier in July 2017, wherein, a Kathmandu resident Kamal Todi failed to get citizenship certificate for his daughter Natasha even after multiple attempts.
Even though Natasha was entitled to get citizenship by descent under the new constitution, KDAO authorities denied issuing the same citing lack of relevant laws for the same. Even the top Ministry officials cited a similar reason.
Natasha, who was pursuing Bachelors in an Indian university, could not even make her trip to the Philippines due to lack of relevant travel documents or passport. “I have been sending her to India through land route for the same reason,” says Kamal. “People ask me questions as if I am not getting passport or travel documents due to my fault,” says Natasha.
Around 170,042 People Facing Citizenship Issue
Issuing of citizenship certificates remains a problem even after the Supreme Court verdict, which recommends such certificates to the children with parents of Nepali origin.
“Even the Constitution has clearly stated that the children of parents who are Nepali citizens by birth would get citizenship by descent,” says Advocate Meera Dhungana.
According to Advocate Dipendra Jha, around 170,042 Nepali citizens by birth and children of Nepali citizens by birth were facing hurdles in obtaining citizenship certificates.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs Spokesperson Deepak Kafle says that the government has started working on amendments to the Citizenship Act.
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