KATHMANDU: The government has allocated budget for the Prime Minister Employment Program (PMEP) aimed at youth employment for the next fiscal year (FY) 2081/82. This project, backed by the World Bank, is set to expire at the end of June. While discussions with the World Bank are ongoing to extend the project's duration, the budget includes unspent resources provided by the bank.

Despite criticism for utilizing loan from the World Bank in unproductive sectors, the government has allocated Rs 6 billion for the Prime Minister Employment Program for the upcoming fiscal year. Of this amount, approximately Rs 4 billion in unspent World Bank funds will be used for the Youth Employment Transformation Initiative (Yeti) Project.

The Prime Minister Employment Program, launched by KP Sharma Oli in 2075/76, has faced accusations of wasting billions of rupees from the state coffers on petty works. In its first year, the scheme was criticized for spending heavily on unproductive activities like chasing monkeys, uprooting weeds, and chasing cattle. In response to this criticism, the government announced plans to restructure the program in the current year's budget.

Former Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat's budget statement noted that the revision aims to create productive employment and improve labor market outcomes. The program aims to provide minimum employment with workplace-based training in labor-intensive work at the local levels.

The budget speech mentions that employment service centers will be upgraded to offer services such as labor, skill, and entrepreneurship development trainings at the local levels.

However, despite forming a restructuring committee which submitted a report with recommendations for improvements, these changes have not been implemented, raising questions about the effective use of the budget.

Under Secretary of the Prime Minister Employment Program Secretariat, Shobha Kumari Pokharel, stated that it would be difficult to restructure and implement the budget from the next fiscal year. She mentioned that although some changes were made, the necessary groundwork to move the program forward in a new way has not been done.

While announcing the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, Finance Minister Barshman Pun said that the Prime Minister Employment Program will provide around 200,000 people with at least 100 days of employment in public construction and maintenance projects. However, he did not mention was no mention of anything about restructuring the program.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Social Security, the government has already spent Rs 18.73 billion on the program till date.

Although 4.04 million workers have been registered under the PMEP in the past five years, only 712,000 workers have benefitted from the scheme.

The program has not been able to provide employment to a significant portion of the listed workers. In the current year, 885,000 people registered for the program, but as of June 1, only 38,546 had been employed for an average of 78 days.

The Prime Minister's Office reported that the program had been conducted in over 700 municipalities, mobilizing employees, including 2,280 employment coordinators. However, some targeted programs under the Prime Minister Employment Program have not started. The 61st report of the Auditor General highlighted that the program failed to employ a large portion of registered workers.

Over the past five years, 4.04 million workers were registered, but only 712,000 participated in minimum employment. The initiative to conduct workplace-based training for 59,500 individuals for entrepreneurship development has not begun. Although the annual budget promises to provide 200,000 people with at least 100 days of employment, the Auditor General's report noted that this program is not implemented universally at the local levels, and many listed individuals have not receive the promised employment.

The report also criticized the lack of updated information and data on external and internal employment at employment service centers, which hinders counseling for unemployed people. It pointed out that the program mainly focused on cleaning roads, drains, school playgrounds, and small infrastructure projects. It recommended that the program should involve cost-sharing with local levels.

The Prime Minister Employment Program includes the Youth Employment Transformation Initiative Project, funded by a US$120 million World Bank loan. The project aims to create employment opportunities, increase access to available jobs, boost workers' income, and improve the target group's living conditions. However, the report stated that these goals were not achieved.

With a quarter of the foreign aid budget remaining unspent as the project deadline approached, Ministry of Labor officials have decided to seek an extension of the project. The Prime Minister Employment Program Secretariat reported that Rs 4 billion from the World Bank remain unspent, prompting the Ministry of Labor to propose further discussions with the World Bank to extend the project's deadline.

Under Secretary Pokharel stated that the donor has agreed to extend the deadline, and the remaining funds have been included in the budget for the next year. She claimed that the proposal for the extension would soon be approved by the World Bank.