The government has a policy to establish a welfare fund to provide relief to Nepali workers who go to India for seasonal work. However, it has not been implemented by formulating a procedure. The National Labor Migration Policy-2082, issued by the government in the second week of last July, paved the way for Nepalis in the Indian labor market to be included in the labor migration and registered with the welfare fund. However, the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security has not been able to finalize the procedure to implement it.

‘A suitable model like the existing Foreign Employment Welfare Fund will be developed to protect the rights of Nepali workers going to work in India and gradually be affiliated,’ the policy states, ‘Nepali workers going to India will be provided with information and knowledge through the local level.’ The Ministry of Labor has already prepared a draft of the ‘Programme (Operation and Management) Procedure-2082 for Affiliated Workers Going to India as Seasonal Workers to the Welfare Fund’ to affiliate the welfare fund through the Employment Service Center at the local level. 

Labor expert Keshav Basyal, who is also a member of the National Labor Migration Policy Suggestion Task Force, said that the government should immediately proceed with the documentation work through the municipality. ‘Since the government does not look after the workers working in India, the families of the deceased workers have not received relief and compensation from anywhere. They have become helpless,’ he said, ‘Just as in the case of the death of a worker who has gone outside India, the dependent families receive relief money, children are given educational scholarships and have been brought under the ambit of social security. Similarly, the policy has clearly stated that workers going to India should also be included.'

There is a provision for those going for foreign employment to pay 1,500 to 2,000 rupees to the Foreign Employment Board on the basis of a contract. The board has been providing welfare services to workers going for foreign employment other than India since 2065. Currently, if a worker working in a country other than India who is affiliated with the welfare fund dies, his family is receiving 1 million rupees as relief. The Program (Operation and Management) Procedure-2082, proposed by the Ministry of Labor, to associate workers going to India as seasonal workers with the welfare fund, is also going to give the Foreign Employment Board the responsibility of operating and managing the fund for workers going to India. 

According to the Ministry of Labor, the amount to be deposited in the fund and the compensation to be received have not been decided. 'Employment Service Centers have been established in every municipality. There is a plan to collect data through this and associate them with the welfare fund. This fund is kept under the Foreign Employment Board. "We have not yet reached a conclusion on the amount to be deposited to join the fund," said an official from the Ministry of Labor. "We will come up with a procedure to provide services to the workers in a simple and easy manner."

Nepali society has a traditional connection with the Indian labor market due to the convenience of open borders and the constant movement of people from the village. Labor expert Jeevan Baniya says that it is very challenging to keep a record of Nepalis going to India due to the long and open border. "There are lakhs of workers in the Indian labor market, especially from the Far West and Karnali, as seasonal workers. Local municipalities should be made more responsible for joining them in the fund," he said.

The Ministry of Labor has proposed to deposit money for one fiscal year. It has proposed to address the risk for up to 16 months after depositing money for one fiscal year. The fund will defend and advocate for the accused in cases of serious criminal offenses, provide financial assistance to the family of the deceased in case of the death of the worker, bring the body, and perform welfare work as decided by the board.

Although many Nepalis have established themselves in the Indian labor market, India is becoming the only option for poor families to find employment at low cost. There are data from diaspora organizations active in India that Nepalis are employed in three types of employment in India. First, there are wage laborers and watchmen. Domestic workers, watchmen, and informal sector workers working on daily wages are the most numerous.

Second, there are middle class people who have also received ration cards and have property in both Nepal and India. And, third, there is data on those working in government and large industrial factories in India. An informal survey has shown that 80 percent of Nepali workers in India are engaged in low-income wage laborers, dhabas, restaurants, and canteens of liquor contracts, domestic workers, and watchmen. About 10 percent are in formal employment. 7 percent have assets in both Nepal and India.