July 22: The Prime Minister’s Employment Programme that started four years ago with the aim of providing employment to 200,000 people annually has failed to achieve this objective.

A total of 172,270 people were employed in the fiscal year 2018/19 under this programme conducted through the Ministry of Labor and Employment. In the fiscal year 2019/20, that number dropped to 105,626. In the fiscal year 2020/21, altogether 181,091 people were employed under this programme. According to the website of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme, the number of people who got employment in last fiscal year (FY 2021/22) stands at 136,384.

The programme not only failed to provide employment to the people as per its target but also failed to provide employment to the workers for the specified number of days.

Under this programme, there is a provision to provide employment to the workers for 100 days in a year. However, since the programme started, the target is yet to be fulfilled.

According to the available data, the workers were hired for an average of 13 days in FY 2018/19. A year later, that number increased to an average of 16 days. In the fiscal year 2020/721, that number increased sharply to 76 days and in the last fiscal year, that number was 75.

Why the Programme Failed

Labor expert Som Luintel stated that the Prime Minister's Employment Programme failed to achieve its objective because this programme was introduced to create jobs for the youth who are planning to go abroad.

Secretary of the Labour Ministry Ek Narayan Aryal admits that the government is facing problems in implementing the programme. In an event held in Kathmandu in the last week of June, he said that there is a problem in the implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme at the local level due to lack of coordination.

Joint Secretary Danduraj Ghimire, who is also the Executive Director of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme, did not pick up the phone when New Business Age tried to contact him to get more information about the programme.

What to do now?

Labor immigration expert Luintel says the Prime Minister's Employment Programme needs effective restructuring.

“For this, the programme should be made attractive so that the youth are interested in it,” he said.

Luintel further said that this programme has become a political recruitment center.

The ministry has also shown interest in the need to revise the Prime Minister's Employment Programme. Secretary Aryal said that the ministry will emphasize on the skill development of the workers and a part of the budget allocated for the programme can be spent on the purchase of equipment.

In the programme held last June, Secretary Aryal said that it is necessary to link this programme with production.

“The Prime Minister's Employment Programme should be interlinked with the Prime Minister's Agriculture Modernization Programme. Vocational skills can fill the gap between these two programmes.”

This programme started from the fiscal year 2018/19 after the government mentioned in the budget that it will create jobs in the country to prevent the labor force from going abroad for employment.