Govt forms five-year labour plan

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has prepared a five-year strategic plan for the first time. 

The strategic plan has six pillars: internal employment promotion, foreign employment management, labour relations and occupational safety, vocational skills development training, contribution-based social security, good governance promotion and labour diplomacy, according to the ministry sources.

The five-year strategic plan has been prepared covering various activities to be carried out in the next 5 years (2022/23 to 2027/28, said the ministry in a press release on Sunday. 

Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security, Krishna Kumar Shrestha, said that the plan has been prepared to guide the activities to be carried out by the ministry and to make the work fruitful. 

According to minister Shrestha, the strategic plan also evaluates various activities to be carried out in the next five fiscal years, the cost required for it and expected achievement to be made from it. He informed that the strategy has been finalized by incorporating the suggestions received after discussions with various stakeholders. 

Towards internal employment promotion, it is mentioned that minimum employment will be guaranteed, productive employment will be promoted and expanded and integrated employment services will be provided. 

Similarly, towards foreign employment management, the plan aims to make foreign employment safe, systematic and dignified, to 

maximise foreign employment by identifying skilled employment opportunities in the international labour market. Increasing labour productivity, maintaining good industrial labour relations, making maximum use of labour force by making labour practices dignified, implementing child labour prevention master plan, occupational health and safety are also the priorities  of the plan. 

Similarly, promoting workplace risk reduction, strengthening and capacity building of bodies working in the field of labour administration, promoting business and human rights, formalizing informal labour, and balancing the demand and supply of skilled and semi-skilled manpower as required by the national labour market are other components  of the plan. 

In addition, vocational skills development training is said to balance the demand and supply of manpower competing in the international labour market. 

The plan also aims to promote good governance and policy and legal reform towards labour diplomacy, make internal employment management effective, make foreign employment administration simple, accessible and technology-friendly, make internal labour administration work fast, quick and effective, maintain good financial and administrative governance and to make labour diplomacy effective. 

It includes plans to expand productive employment opportunities in the country, reducing unemployment, improving vocational and skill development training to produce labour force as per national and international labour market demand, maintaining good industrial labour relations, and ending all forms of labour exploitation including child labour, and integrated social security. 

The policy aims to include the general public under the scope of contribution-based social security, make foreign employment safe, dignified and systematic, and integrate and manage information systems related to labour and foreign employment.