The decision is expected to provide cushion to those bearing the brunt of high living cost
KATHMANDU, Jan 14: The
government is all set to jack up minimum remuneration of Nepalis working
in Qatar by 400 Qatari Riyal (QAR) keeping in view the increasing cost
of living in the labor destination.
The government´s latest move is also expected to create uniformity in
remuneration of Nepalis employed in major labor destinations in the
Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
"We are making final preparations to increase the minimum wage of
Nepalis working in Qatar so as to make the remuneration at par with that
extended in Saudi Arabia and the UAE," Buddi Khadka, spokesperson of
the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE), told Republica on Sunday.
Once the wage hike is introduced, the Department of Foreign Employment
(DoFE) will allow manpower agencies to send Nepalis to that destination
only if employers agree to provide the new minimum salary fixed by the
Nepal government.
Currently, the MoLE is working on raising the minimum remuneration of
Nepali workers in Qatar to 1,000 QAR per month, which include 800 QAR as
salary and 200 QAR as food and accommodation allowance. As of now,
Nepali workers are receiving 800 QAR in monthly remuneration, which
includes 200 QAR in food and accommodation allowance.
"We are taking the decision soon in line with the recommendation made by our embassy in Qatar," said Khadka.
Qatar, which is home to more than 250,000 Nepali workers, received
26,416 additional Nepalis in the first five months of the current fiscal
year.
The government has already raised minimum wages of those working in
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to 1,000 Saudi Riyal, which includes 200 Riyal
as food and accommodation allowance.
Recently, the Malaysian government increased the minimum salary of
workers, including foreign migrants, to 900 Ringgit from 546 Ringgit in a
bid to transform itself into one of the highest paying countries for
workers.
Qatar, the UAE, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia together provide employment to
more than 95 percent of Nepalis who left the country for employment
purpose through formal channel. A total of 140,468 workers left for
those four major destinations in the first five months of the current
fiscal year till mid-December.
Meanwhile, RSS reported that the foreign employment agencies have
decided not to take service charge from women looking for jobs in the
Gulf region.
Bal Bahadur Tamang, president of Nepal Association of Foreign Employment
Agencies (NAFEA), said the NAFEA has already forwarded its decision to
the MoLE and the DoFE.
The new provision will apply on Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait,
Bahrain and Oman, which are receiving significant number of Nepali women
migrants, Tamang said.
The move comes at a time when foreign employment agencies are being
criticized for acquiring fees from job aspirants even when employers
bear entire cost to bring in workers.
Currently, Nepali women leaving for the Gulf countries are paying around Rs 80,000 as service charge to manpower agencies.
The UN estimates that some 250,000 Nepali women are working in Gulf
counties, of which 63,000 are working in Saudi Arabia, 25,000 in Kuwait,
18,000 in Qatar, 10,000 in Oman and seven thousand in the UAE.
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