September 4: The goal of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme launched by the government in the fiscal year 2018/19 was to increase employment opportunities within the country and promote social security. However, even after four years since the initiation of the programme, the status of employment opportunities in the country remains the same. The fact that the number of people seeking foreign employment has not declined stands as a testimony to this.

Compared to the year when the PM's Employment Programme started, the number of people receiving labor permits for foreign employment increased last year. In the fiscal year 2018/19, 508,528 people received labor permits. According to the data of the Department of Foreign Employment, that number increased to 567,839 during the last year (FY 2021/22).

During the years in between, the number of people receiving labor permits decreased. Officials of the department say that the number of people taking labor permits decreased due to lockdown imposed in various countries with the onset of Covid-19 pandemic.

In the fiscal year 2017/18, before the Prime Minister's Employment Programme started, 612,605 people received work permits.

This programme started by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has not only failed to achieve its goals, but has also failed to achieve its objectives.

The objectives of the programme include providing employment services and assistance necessary to guarantee minimum employment to unemployed people, promoting and expanding domestic employment by developing skilled and competent human resources. However, this programme failed to guarantee minimum employment to the unemployed people.

Under the programme, more than 700,000 unemployed people are registered annually, among which, only less than 200,000 people get employment. Under the programme, 752,449 unemployed people were registered in the year 2020/21. During the last fiscal year, that number was 707,708.

Similarly, the programme has also been unable to arrange training for the workers to acquire skills. Under the programme, it was informed that 200,000 people will be given employment for a minimum of 100 days a year. However, neither 200,000 people get the employment opportunity, nor can the receivers work for 100 days.

Under this programme, 172,270 people were employed in the year 2018/19, which decreased to 105,626 in the year 2019/20. In the year 2020/21, the number of people who got employment was 181,091 while 147,456 people got employment during the last fiscal year.

In the last four years, workers have been unable to get work for 100 days a year. According to the data of the PM's Employment Programme, workers got an average of 13 days of work in the year 2018/19. In 2019/20, that number increased to 16 days. In the year 2020/21, workers got an average of 76 days of work, and in the last year, 2021/22, this number increased to 81.

Since the objectives of the programme has not been fulfilled, questions are being raised on the rationale behind the programme.

Labor and immigration expert Som Luitel says that the PM's Employment Programme failed to achieve its objectives. “This programme was introduced to create jobs for the youth seeking foreign employment. Based on this, the programme has failed,” said Luitel.

He says that this programme is not suitable in terms of the days of employment and wages that the workers will get. Under the programme, workers are given a daily wage of Rs 570.

Luitel says that the PM's Employment Programme has turned into a political recruiting center and a show-off at the end of the fiscal year.

“Because of this, the programme has not been effective.”

Secretary of the ministry Ek Narayan Aryal also admits that there are problems in the implementation of the programme.

He said that there were problems in the implementing the programme due to lack of ownership at the local level. “This programme is a 'mismatch' of the Agricultural Knowledge Center and the Prime Minister's Agricultural Modernization Project. The lowest level where all these programmes are implemented is the local level. But neither the PM's Agricultural Modernization Programme nor the PM's Employment Programme takes ownership,” he said.  Aryal added that when he tried to get information about the progress of the programme from Joint Secretary Danduraj Ghimire, who is also the executive director of the PM's Employment Programme, he did not pick up the phone.