WITH ONLY 6,500 OPENINGS, 7,097 FORMER PLA FIGHERS OPT FOR INTEGRATION NA

WITH ONLY 6.500 OPENINGS, 7,097 FORMER MAOIST PLA FIGHTERS OPT FOR INTEGRATION

Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: Preferences of 13,065 former fighters were recoded until Saturday at seven cantonments and 7,097 opted for integration; there are openings for only 6,500 openings in Nepal Army (NA) under a separate directorate
Altogether 210 evaluators are recoding preferences for the ninth consecutive day at the cantonments Sunday; the process for recording preferences of
19,000 plus former PLA fighters were to be completed by Monday.
Monitors are recording preferences of former fighters for integration, resettlement and voluntary retirement with a golden handshake of maximum Rs.900,000.
Only Krishna Kumar Rai and Nirmal Rai have opted for resettlement.
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DUPED WORKERS RETURN FROM DUBAI; DEMAND COMPENSATION FROM AGENT
Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: Nineteen Nepali migrant workers have returned from Dubai after they were tortured, mistreated and denied promised salary. The workers accused their employer of violating the agreement made before they left for Dubai through the Maharajgunj-based Sam International Pvt Ltd, Roshan Sedhai and Prakash Adhikari report in The Kathmandu Post from Kathmandu and Dailekh.
Bikram Subedi, Milan Godar, Manoj Kumar Tamang, Raju KC, Bal Kumar Chhetri, Ramesh Giri, Lekh Narayan Shrestha, Surya Ale Magar, Mahesh Chaudhary, Arjun KC Suraj Giri, Bikash Tiwari, Sherva Raj Ahmed, Amar Paudel, Harilal Sarki, Raj Kumar Barma, Indra Prasad Paudel and Nagendra Upreti have jointly filed a case against Sam International in the Department of Foreign Employment demanding compensation and money they paid as processing fee and visa charge.
The workers were recruited for Ac Al Baddad Capital, Dubai, as drivers, storekeepers, procurement officials, security guards, HR assistants and dock fitter. But they were made to do other jobs and the salary was half the promised amount.
“Forget salary, they did not give us food and kept 25 people in a room,” said Surya Ale Magar of Makawanpur. “There were four toilets for 300 people. The workplace was 100 km away from where we stayed.”
The company has agreed to pay between 800 and 2,500 dirham depending on the nature of work.
“We were often threatened jail. They even locked up one of our colleagues Nagendra Upreti for seven days,” said Lekh Narayan Shrestha. According to the workers, they were forced to do works not mentioned in the agreement. “I was appointed as a dock fitter but was asked to work as a labourer. My friend was recruited for driver but ended up doing another job. All of us were cheated,” said Hari Lal Shakya.
The victims say they were cheated by the manpower company. According to victims, the company sent additional workers despite knowledge about the fate of earlier workers.
The workers were rescued with help from the Nepal Embassy in Dubai. According to them, the company hit back when they boycotted the work accusing the company of deceiving them.
“We were cheated. We want justice. The manpower [company] should compensate us,” said Ale. He added they paid from Rs 85,000 to 115,000 to the agency for arrangements before their departure. They returned to Nepal after working for a month and without receiving pay.
The company, however, has shown readiness to pay Rs 15,000 per person as compensation.
1 yr after death, wife cries for hubby’s body
Body of Bakhat Bahadur Thapa, a Nepali migrant worker who was killed in a road accident in Saudi Arabia one year ago, is yet to arrive.
A permanent resident of Jaganath VDC in Dailekh district, Thapa left home for a labourer’s job by paying Rs 135,000 three years ago.
“I have lost hope to see the body of my husband,” said Kala Kumari, who came to Dailekh district headquarters to register the death. Thapa’s relative Dhan Bahadur Khadka said they frequented Kathmandu in an effort to bring the body back but in vain. He said it was uncertain whether the bereaved family would be compensated.
With the death of the sole breadwinner, the four-member family finds it hard to eke out a living. “He had assured us that he would return after three years,” said Kala Kumari.
“But he is gone forever leaving me the responsibility of looking after our children and paying back the money borrowed to send him abroad.”
The Thapas have a daughter and two sons. The family is yet to perform the last rites of the deceased. Nepali Embassy in Saudi Arabia said the body has been kept at the Jijan-based Bhed Hospital.
Jaganath VDC secretary Bed Bahadur Jisi said his office has sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the matter. Following the correspondence, the Foreign Employment Development Board has urged the embassy to initiate works to bring the body home.
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GOVT.COLLECTS RS. 640 AS SOCIAL SECURITY TAX
Kathmandu, 27 Nov.: The government collected Rs 640 million as social security fund last fiscal year (2010-11) from employees and workers of all government and private sector institutions. It seeks to use the fund for implementing social security schemes for contributors, The Kathmandu Post reports.
The government has maintained a separate account for the collection of social security fund in which one percent tax on the taxable income of salaried people from both the government and private sector is collected.
The government introduced the one percent tax for social security purposes in the fiscal year 2009-10 and has been continuing it since then. The government kept no record of the social security tax collected in the year 2009-10, but it is estimated that Rs 100 million was collected then.
“The government has already arranged the budget for the Social Security Fund Management Committee (SSFMC) in accordance with the collection of the social security tax,” Shanta Raj Subedi, the joint secretary at the Finance Ministry, said. “The amount collected in the last fiscal year will also be sent to the SSFMC in three installments this year.”
As tax cannot be directly transferred to another ministry and the finance ministry allocates the collected amount through the budgetary process.
The government had introduced the policy in order to expand social security coverage for all people in the long run, such as insurance coverage for workplace accident, reproductive health and health insurance, among others.
Although the policy was introduced three years ago, the government has failed to take concrete measures to implement the plan. As a Social Security Act is needed to implement the social security schemes, efforts made in this regard suffered a setback in the absence of the executive director at the SSFMC for the past three months.
“Although we have already prepared a draft of the social security bill, we have failed to continue discussions on it in the absence of the executive director,” SSFMC director Krishna Dhakal said. “We have also been unable to draft the modality of the social security schemes.”
Trade union leaders have criticised the government for failing to ensure social security coverage for workers. “The government announces attractive schemes but pays no heed to implement them,” said Umesh Upadhya, the general secretary of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Union (Gefont).
An official from the All Nepal Trade Union Federation (Antuf) echoed Upadhya. “Such tendency of the government may invite industrial disruption in the future,” he said. The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has also stressed on the need to implement the scheme as soon as possible. Pashupati Murarka, the chairman of the employers’ council at the FNCCI, said the delay on the part of the government shows that it is ignoring the workers.
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