Govt mechanism to hear workers' grievances

Kathmandu, Mar. 31

The government is launching a grievance-hearing mechanism to hear and address the problems and complaints of workers employed in the country and abroad.

The new instrument will be active from Monday, Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Gokarna Bista said at the ‘Gorkhapatra Sambad’, a weekly conversation series of the Gorkhapatra Corporation, on Sunday.

He said that the ministry had long been planning to create a separate unit to look after the problems of the Nepali workers.

Although there is Hello Sarkar to listen to the complaints of people of all walks, and some ministries and other government agencies like Nepal Police and National Reconstruction Authority operate complaint hearing cells, the Ministry of Labour Employment and Social Security will run its own unit for the same.

“It’s not that the complaint registered at the Hello Sarkar doesn’t reach us. We have resolved many issues registered at it. But, we want to extend a quick response to the complaint, that is what workers want from us,” said Bista.

He said that the aim of his ministry was to run welfare programmes as much as possible for the benefit of Nepali workers in and out of the country.

“The Social Security Act was introduced for the same purpose. But, the act has created a win-win situation for all employment stakeholders: workers, employers and the government. It has not only improved the labour relations and made the labour unrest a thing of the past but also paved the way to attract foreign investment,” said the minister, commenting on the relations between labour rights and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

It is expected that the act will reduce the grievances and increase the productivity of workers.

Similarly, Minister Bista informed that the ministry was expediting the preparations for the management of the Employment Information System in order to keep track of the labour force entering the job market every year and identifying jobs for many of them.

“The government has already established Employment Information Centre in all 753 local units and is hiring Employment Coordinator. We plan to create the labour force required for the nation in the next decade,” he said.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 01 April 2019.