According to the Social Security Fund, as of Tuesday, 2 million 30 thousand 473 people who have gone abroad for employment have joined the fund. They have deposited 1 billion 754.3 million rupees in the fund.
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Only 10 percent of the workers who are affiliated with the contribution-based social security program implemented to provide benefits including pensions to workers employed abroad have made regular contributions. Due to non-regular contributions, workers and their families have been deprived of the benefits available under social security.
The government has started bringing foreign workers under the ambit of social security from 8 Chaitra 2079. According to the Social Security Fund, 2 million 30 thousand 473 people who have gone for foreign employment have joined the fund as of Tuesday. They have deposited 1 billion 754.3 million rupees in the fund.
‘Workers going for foreign employment are given work permits only after they have joined the fund. This is mandatory,’ said Krishna Adhikari, spokesperson of the fund, ‘After going for employment, regular contributions were required to get all the benefits of the fund. Currently, only 10 percent of the workers are contributing regularly.’
According to him, although 2 million workers have joined, only 300 people are taking benefits from the fund due to not making regular contributions. While 657 thousand workers working in Nepal’s internal labor market are affiliated. The number of workers who receive benefits from the fund due to their regular contributions is 257 thousand. They have been paid 18 billion rupees for health treatment, accidents, and dependent family security schemes. According to the spokesperson, Adhikari, to make a regular contribution, one must deposit Rs 2,595 in an account in the fund in one's name. This is 21.33 percent of the minimum wage of Rs 12,170. 7.48 percent of the amount deposited in this way is deposited in the Social Security Insurance Fund and 13.85 percent in the personal fund. 'This amount does not have to be deposited by the workers abroad themselves. This amount can also be deposited by their families or relatives in Nepal,' he said. 'Only workers and their families who are aware of this issue are making regular contributions.' The fund has provided concessional discounts to regular contributors. In which, if an amount of more than 6 months is deposited in the fund in a lump sum, there is a 20 percent discount, and if proof is submitted that at least 70 percent of the annual income has been sent to Nepal through banking, deducting the expenses incurred for residence in the country concerned, there is a provision for a discount of up to 20 percent on the amount to be deposited in schemes other than old age security.
Those who contribute will get annual accident treatment expenses of up to Rs 100,000, disability pension of up to Rs 5,631, lifetime pension of up to Rs 3,754 for dependent families, and educational scholarship of up to Rs 3,754 for children up to 21 years. A lump sum or pension facility will be provided after the foreign employment period ends. Spokesperson Adhikari said that collecting money for the fund has become very challenging. ‘There is a problem in collecting money. For this, we have started raising awareness among family members through local municipalities,’ he said, ‘It is increasing a little more now than before. However, more effort needs to be made in that.’
Badri KC, President of the Non-Resident Nepali Association, said that they have been deprived of receiving the facility due to lack of regular contributions to social security. ‘Now, they are only getting involved in getting a work permit and renewing it. Once it is obtained, it is valid for three years. The rest is a gap. During this time, no one reminds them or tells them. "You have to pay again when you go back home," KC said. "If this is the only way, the social security of workers abroad is not guaranteed." He said that the NRNA is ready to take this forward as a campaign to help. "There are people who need to be connected abroad. Publicity is being done in Nepal. This fund has become a big fund. It should now focus on promotion. For this, the NRNA is ready to facilitate by reaching an agreement with the fund," he said. Jagat Bahadur Singhada, chairman of the Joint Trade Union Coordination Committee (JTUC), the umbrella organization of Nepal's trade union federations, said that workers only perceive the amount paid into the social security fund as a 'tax'. "Just as the government created a system for mandatory affiliation to the fund, it did not develop a system to continue it," he said. "We should have talked to the employer or the government of the destination country. Even if nothing else could be done, it should have been possible to connect it when sending remittances."
