Foreign employment-related service providers agencies say they feel ignored because the government has failed to offer them relief while their businesses have been badly hit for over a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Institutes and health facilities that perform medical exams on prospective migrant workers complained that the government had left them on their own in the worst crisis in decades.
While they continue to struggle through the pandemic, the costly renewal process continues to weigh them down as the current fiscal year draws to a close.
According to Raja Ram Gautam, president of the Federation of Foreign Employment Orientation Association Nepal, which represents 137 organizations that provide pre-departure training to migrant workers, many operators are struggling with the renewal process due to procedural difficulties caused by the pandemic.
“They ask for full documents and full payment of the annual fees. Another important requirement for renewal is the clearance certificate. Until our landlords don’t pay their taxes, we can’t pay our taxes, but how are they going to pay their taxes until we pay them since we have no money, ”said Gautam. “Most of the training institutes before departure remain closed. Since no transactions have taken place, it is not possible to sort all documents. So we are trying to negotiate the license renewal process. “
The Department of Foreign Employment, the central government agency responsible for managing the labor migration sector, has already requested foreign employment service providers to renew their licenses by July 15.
Pre-departure training providers were asked to submit more than a dozen types of documents, including receipts for the security deposit of Rs 500,000 and the license renewal fee of Rs 10,000.
“As we are in financial distress, we also applied for a discount on license renewal fees, but this application went unheard when the Minister of Labor changed. Then we asked both the ministry and the department to at least obtain the necessary documents, since the owners of the organizations outside the valley cannot even travel to Kathmandu. We are ready to pay the annual fees, but the authorities should give us some time to submit the documents. “
This time around, 20-25 organizations risk losing their licenses, according to Gautam, while 15 organizations have left the industry after failing to file bail last fiscal year.
Pre-departure training providers were required to deposit the guaranteed amount of 500,000 rupees last fiscal year, when the labor migration business was devastated by the first wave of the pandemic, an increase from the previous amount of 300,000 rupees.
Amid rising coronavirus cases both domestically and in labor destination countries, the government had suspended labor migration for several months, ultimately affecting foreign employment agencies such as recruitment agencies, health institutions that performed medical examinations of migrant workers, and pre-departure training providers.
Your requests for discounts or relief have fallen on deaf ears.
“For small organizations like ours, 500,000 rupees as a cash guarantee is too much, even in normal times. With the industry heavily impacted by the pandemic for several months, companies have had to borrow and struggle to pay the interest, “Gautam said. “Education providers are already paying rents and staff salaries out of their own pockets before they leave, in the hope that the labor migration sector will ultimately recover.”
The situation is no better with the issuing of medical certificates by health institutions for migrant workers bound abroad.
In the past fiscal year, when the first wave of the pandemic hit the foreign employment sector, they also had to deposit the guaranteed money of 500,000 rupees.
“There was no government support,” said Sitaram Regmi, president of the Nepal Medical Occupational Organization – the umbrella organization of health facilities that issue medical certificates to migrant workers. “Instead, medical facilities that carry out medical examinations with a few thousand rupees have been charged with large bail amounts, which is unnecessary.”
Of the 225 health facilities across the country that review health reports and issue fitness reports to migrant workers, 160 are affiliated with the Nepal Medical Occupational’s Organization.
According to Regmi, it was illogical to ask for a deposit of 500,000 rupees as these facilities have already invested millions of rupees in purchasing medical equipment and setting up the facilities.
“Our business is not as profitable as recruiting agencies, but it requires huge investments. We even asked the government to repay the deposit amount to those companies that are in financial need, ”said Regmi. “Unable to cope with the losses caused by the pandemic, many have already left the industry. But some have started out with ambulatory services and pathological laboratory services. “
Both Regmi and Gautam agree that their requests for government support could go unheeded due to the political instability in the country.
“The frequent change of ministerial in the Ministry of Labor was not helpful,” said Regmi. “We discuss our problems with a minister and before he can do anything a new minister is appointed. The high turnover among secretaries has also led to problems. “
Gautam repeats Regmi.
Both feel unequally treated by the government compared to the recruitment agencies, who were allowed to renew their operating licenses even though they were unable to meet the export requirements for workers.
Recently, the government paved the way for recruitment agencies to license renewals, even if they haven’t placed a total of 200 workers in the past two fiscal years combined. Since they were unable to provide at least 100 workers in each fiscal year for two consecutive years, the government had allowed them to relax and asked them to meet the criteria in two fiscal years.
“The government ignored our concerns because we are a small industry and have no political connections,” said Gautam. “We are no less bad off than the recruiters, because we are part of the same foreign employment industry.”
