Minimum salary for Nepali workers presently stands at $125 a month and it has not been revised for six years. [break]
Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) has assigned Nepali embassies in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait and Malaysia to hold talks with concerned officials and seek their opinion on salary review of Nepali workers there.
"The talks to this connection will soon begin with officials of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, the UAE, Bahrain and Malaysia," said an official at MoLTM.
These seven countries together absorb more than 90 percent of total Nepali overseas workers.
In a letter circulated to the embassies, the MoLTM has stated that the review of wages was necessary considering the role of remittance in national income, remuneration of counterpart workers from other sending countries and soaring recruitment cost for overseas jobs.
Baburam Acharya, secretary at the MoLTM, too told myrepublica.com that review of salary was necessary given the rising inflation, devaluation of money and changing wage rates in the international market.
“Existing wage rate fixed some six years ago is not sufficient given the rising living cost and commodity prices. So, we will review the wage once we receive recommendations from concerned embassies,” said Acharya.
Foreign Employment Act 2007 allows the government to fix minimum salary for Nepali migrant workers and Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) makes sure that employers uphold it. DoFE issues final permission for jobs only after the manpower agencies produce documents that guarantees compliance with the minimum salary fixed by the government.
However, foreign employment agencies have demanded the government to first negotiate the workable rates with the governments of respective countries before fixing minimum salary.
"Fixing of the rate without proper consultation with respective governments leaves space, whereby employers may not follow it. To do away with this situation, we think the government should first consult with the officials of respective countries," said Gyan Prasad Gaire, general secretary of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA). He also emphasized the need to enhance skills of workers before taking decision to hike their salary.
"Mere rise in wage rate without upgrading the skills of workers could deter employers from recruiting Nepali workers and switch to other source countries," said Gaire.
Main competitors of Nepali workers in overseas markers are workers from India and Bangladesh. Manpower agencies claim workers from those countries are working at wages lower than what their Nepali counterparts receive.
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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