The government has formulated 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 through working procedures.

The National Labor Migration Policy-2082, issued by the government in the second week of last Shrawan, paved the way for Nepalis in the Indian labor market to be included within the scope of labor migration, documented, and affiliated 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 similar to the existing Foreign Employment Welfare Fund will be developed to protect the rights of Nepali workers going to work in India and gradually affiliated,’ the policy states, ‘Nepali workers going to India will be provided with information and guidance 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 be affiliated with the Welfare Fund through the Employment Service Centers 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 start the documentation work through the local level. ‘As 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 family receives relief money, children are given educational scholarships and are 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 who go 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 outside India since 2065. Currently, if a worker working in a country other than India who is affiliated with the welfare fund dies, the family receives 1 million rupees as relief.

The ‘Programme to include workers going to India as seasonal workers in the welfare fund (Operation and Management) Procedure-2082’ proposed by the Ministry of Labor also proposes to give the responsibility of operating and managing the fund for workers going to India to the Foreign Employment Board.

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 include them in the welfare fund. This fund will remain 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 of the Ministry of Labor. ‘We will bring a procedure to provide services to the workers in a simple and easy way.’

With the convenience of open borders and the constant movement of people from one’s village to another, Nepali society has a traditional connection with the Indian labor market. According to labor expert Jeevan Baniya, it is very challenging to keep statistics on Nepalis going to India due to the long and open border.

‘There are millions of workers, especially from the Far West and Karnali, in the Indian labor market as seasonal workers. Local municipalities should be made more responsible for including them in the fund,’ he said.

The Labor Ministry has proposed to deposit funds for one fiscal year. There is a proposal to address risks for up to 16 months after depositing funds for one fiscal year. The fund will provide financial assistance to the families of the workers who are listed or have to be returned due to war, epidemic, or natural disaster, to defend and litigate workers who are accused of serious criminal offenses, to provide financial assistance to the families of the deceased and to bring the body in case of death, as well as to protect the rights of workers and other welfare activities as decided by the board.

Even though many Nepalis have established themselves in the Indian labor market, India has become the only option for poor families to get low-cost employment. There are statistics from diaspora organizations active in India that show Nepalis engaged in three types of employment in India. First – wage labor and chowkidari. Domestic workers, chowkidars and daily wage workers are the largest informal sector workers.

Second – The middle class who have also taken ration cards and have assets in both Nepal and India. Third – Those working in government and large industries and factories in India. An informal survey has shown that 80 percent of Nepali workers in India are engaged in low-income wage labor, dhabas, restaurants, liquor contract canteens, domestic workers and chowkidari. About 10 percent are in formal employment. 7 percent have assets in both Nepal and India.

The number of Nepalis working in India is not certain. According to the 2078 census, the number of Nepalis working in India is around 600,000. Before that, according to the 2068 census, India was the destination of 37.5 percent of the population leaving Nepal. 'Currently, there is no information on seasonal workers going to India. It is necessary to include them in a separate welfare fund as a policy to document this,' said domestic employment expert Yubaraj Basnet.

The then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had announced on Magh 11, 2073 that all adult citizens going to India for employment would be recorded and provided with insurance facilities. For this, a study task force comprising representatives from the Ministries of Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Labor had submitted a report with working procedures. That report has not been made public yet.