Amendment in foreign labor act proposed

Amendment in foreign labor act proposed
eKantipur.com, 30-Apr-2007

The government has proposed another amendment to the Foreign Employment Act to allow the state to export workers to countries that have diplomatic ties with it.

The proposal - tendered at the House of Representatives (HoR) - states that any governmental office or body or state-owned agency should be allowed to send job aspirants, seeking foreign employment opportunities, abroad.

The government has also proposed that the government body that has received labor quotas from abroad should be allowed to select workers as per conditions laid by the labor recipient country or through open competition.

In the existing Foreign Employment Act there is no provision that allows the government to export workers to foreign countries.

Talking to the Post, Shyam Prasad Mainali, secretary of Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) said that the amendment was sought to clear the roadblock, which is preventing the government from signing the labor agreement with the South Korean government.

Once the provision is included in the Act, it will open the way for the government to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Employment Permit System (EPS) with the South Korean government. However, the irony is that the government has sought another amendment to the Act at a time when the legislature is yet to endorse a bill, which incorporates second amendments made to the Act.

“We know we have sought for third amendment to the Act at a time when the bill (comprising second amendments) on Foreign Employment is still being discussed in the parliament. But it was done to expedite the process of signing the labor agreement with South Korea,” said Secretary Mainali.

According to him, under special conditions, such as this one, amendments could be made to the Act, instantly, upon receiving permission from the Speaker of the HoR. “If everything goes well and if all the members of the parliament approve the proposal, it will be endorsed during the upcoming session of the House, scheduled for May 9,” said Mainali.

Inclusion of the new clause in the Act would open the gate for the government to legally send workers to foreign countries that have diplomatic ties with Nepal.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the parliamentary committee on labor and industrial relation, held today, urged the government to create a transparent and impartial body to select workers, once Nepal is enlisted in the EPS of South Korea.