Responding to rising incidents of Nepali women facing physical and financial exploitation, the government has taken a policy of prohibiting Nepali women to work in informal sectors like domestic helps in Gulf countries.[break]
However, DoFE granted final permission to Ram Maya Lama and Bis Maya Tamang to work in Bahrain on April 13. But Department of Immigration (DoI) returned Lama from Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Sunday, stating that the permission was against the government policy.
It also informed the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management and Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the violation of policy by DoFE.
Mohan Krishna Sapkota, director general of DoFE, said they had made a big mistake by issuing permits to Nepali women to work in informal sectors in Bahrain. “We will start investigation on how they got permission from DoFE,” Sapkota told Republica on Monday.
A senior official at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management termed the incident a sheer negligence on the part of DoFE employees.
“Irresponsible acts like this won´t be possible without the support of employees. We have launched necessary investigation into the case,” the source added.
Govt to appoint 6 more labor attaches
The government has decided to appoint labor attaches to six more countries having more than 5,000 Nepali workers.
The cabinet meeting held recently took the decision to appoint under secretaries in South Korea and Japan as labor attaches and section officers in Kuwait, Israel, Hong Kong and Oman.
Last year, the government had appointed labor attaches to the country´s four largest job markets -- Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
As per the Law Act 2007, the government can appoint labor attaches to the countries where number of Nepali workers exceeds more than 5,000.
Minister Alam for changing selection criteria
Ministry of Labor and Transport Management has sent a proposal to the cabinet for removing provision of necessary criteria for the appointment of labor attaches through the Ministry of General Administration.
According to sources, Minister Mohamad Aftab Alab directed officials to forward the proposal with the intention of appointing persons close to him to the post of labor attaches.
Keeping in view the controversial track record in appointing labor attaches, the Ministry of Finance has prescribed selection criteria to appoint labor attaches. As per the provision, only the candidates having a good command in English language and experience in labor issues can be selected through open condition.
“The proposal has been sent to the cabinet with the ill-intention of appointing labor attaches under the personal favor of Minister Alam,” an official at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management told Republica.
The official said he was unaware of the cabinet´s response to the proposal though the cabinet has already sent back the proposal to the MoLTM.
Related story
Online service of DoFE disrupted
