EDITORIAL: Ensure basic wages

Nepal govt must start fresh talks with labour-receiving countries to guarantee basic wages to Nepali migrant workers

The outflow of Nepali migrant workers began shortly after the restoration of democracy in 1990 as the government relaxed the bureaucratic hassles on issuing passports to its citizens. The Parliament has also enacted law to regulate overseas jobs with a view to protecting the basic interests of the migrant workers, who otherwise used to be cheated by the manpower agencies within and outside the country.

A provision of free visa, free ticket, along with health insurance, has also been introduced recently. Such provisions have given a sigh of relief to the migrant workers and their families back home. They now pay less fees to the manpower agents for overseas jobs than they did a decade ago. As per government data, around 1,500 youths fly out of the country every day for overseas jobs, which has helped keep the country’s economy afloat and maintain the balance of payments.

However, all is not well when it comes to basic wages Nepali migrant workers earn for shedding their blood, sweat and tears in foreign lands. As most of the Nepali labourers are unskilled, they earn less than their Indian and Filipino counterparts in the destination countries. This has happened because of the government’s weak bilateral labour agreements with a host of countries, where a large number of Nepali workers are currently employed. Nepal has so far signed labour pacts with Qatar, the UAE, South Korea, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Malaysia, and recently with Japan. Except for Japan, Malaysia and, to some extent South Korea, the Nepali workers do not get the minimum wage and other benefits fixed by these host countries.

Qatar, where the largest numbers of Nepali workers are employed, has the highest disparity in terms of wages between the foreign workers and its citizens.

It may be noted that Nepal has ratified UN Immigration Convention-1990 and ILO’s Conventions No 197 and 143, which clearly state that the host countries will not discriminate against migrant workers in paying the minimum wages, social security and other benefits. While reaching bilateral labour pacts with these countries, the government should have stuck to its guns on equal pay and perks to the Nepali workers in line with the UN conventions. If Japan, Malaysia and, to some extent, South Korea are ready to provide equal wages and other benefits to the migrant workers on par with their citizens, the oil rich Gulf nations should also be prepared to abide by the UN conventions. Thus, Nepal should start afresh bilateral talks with the Gulf nations, making sure that the migrant workers get the basic salary fixed by the respective governments. The labour pacts to be reached with the labour-receiving nations must serve the best interest of our workers for making the host countries prosperous. No country hires migrant workers merely on humanitarian grounds. In fact, countries hire them to make up for the labour shortfall they face quite often. So, it is their international obligation to ensure minimum wages to the foreign workers, who are helping to drive their economy forward.

For this, the Nepal government must not hesitate to raise this issue with the counties which hire our labour force.

Be a good mother

By now, people who have been following the media regularly should be pretty well-informed about Down syndrome, if not other health issues. The congenital disorder has come to light after former lawmaker Gayatri Shah and her husband Rajesh Mahato were arrested by the police for abandoning their newborn baby with Down syndrome. The couple has alleged that the doctors did not inform them that the foetus had a genetic disorder during routine checkup.

Doctors claim the country does not have such a facility to diagnose the disorder in a foetus.

While the couple and the doctors lock horns over the issue, the question everyone is asking is, is it right for a mother to abandon a baby because he or she is diseased? The former lawmaker might have gained some sympathy of the people if she had owned the baby and then raised the issue with the hospital where she had delivered. Hundreds of babies with deformities and disease are born every year, but the parents accept them as their fate and try to raise them as best they can. The authorities must see to it that Shah accepts the baby boy with Down syndrome and raises him properly like a good mother. Entertain no excuses.