Government Planned to Create 7 Lakh New Jobs:
The lockdown, due to the risk of corona infection, has affected the global market as well as the domestic labor market. The situation of Nepalese scattered in the global labor market returning home after losing their jobs and the closure of all industries and trades in the domestic labor market has also posed a challenge to the government in employment management but the government seems to have planned to solve such challenge to a large extent.
According to Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada, who is also the spokesperson of the government, it is planned to create at least seven to eight lakh jobs from the budget of the coming fiscal year 2077/78 BS and its programs and other policy arrangements. According to him, employment has been created in the main priority of the budget allocated for the coming fiscal year.
According to labor experts, it is time to prepare for the turmoil in the labor market due to the strike. According to employment expert Ganesh Gurung, the opportunity is now approaching to take full advantage of the new dimension of the domestic and global labor market. "The current turmoil can be made a new starting point," he said. Now the youth have left the city and gone to the villages. He suggested that the local government should attract them to commercial agriculture or other enterprises.
The budget also seems to have created programs to create employment at the local level. The government is thinking of focusing on the Prime Minister's Employment Program, which started last year, on local development. Khatiwada says, “The government aims to create 200,000 jobs through this program alone. The government plans to mobilize about Rs 19 billion of the currently inactive Poverty Alleviation Fund to focus on job creation. Around 32,000 community organizations across the country have mobilized this amount through cooperatives to increase employment by around 150,000.
On the other hand, the government seems to have a plan to create additional employment for 40,000 people by mobilizing the loan of Rs 3.20 billion received through the World Bank through the Small Farmers Development Bank. The micro-enterprise sector programs are also expected to create one million jobs.
Similarly, new technical and vocational training of different durations has been provided and one lakh jobs have been created through it, said Khatiwada. The government estimates that 30,000 jobs will be created through forest-based programs and 2,000 through the innovation fund. The government seems to be thinking of promoting entrepreneurship at home for the youths who have lost their jobs abroad. The government has also made a plan to provide skillful training to the youth at the place of employment.
The government is also investing in on-the-job training (OJT) for unemployed manpower. Even working in private industries and establishments, the government will bear 50 percent of the basic salary for three months. There is also a provision that those establishments should ensure at least two years of employment to the person who has undergone such training.
Not only going abroad for Nepalese labor, but a large number of foreign workers have also come to work in Nepal. Most of such foreign workers have now returned home. The government is also thinking of keeping Nepalese in those places. Even if this is implemented, it is estimated that at least four lakh jobs will be created for Nepalese.
Gurung sees a lot of benefits from the labor market situation that has returned after the epidemic. He suggested that the stakeholders from the diplomatic mission should be active now on the situation of employment after the epidemic and how that demand can be used for the benefit of Nepalese.
