Prime Minister Prachanda today unveiled an ambitious plan to provide insurance cover to Nepalese workers going to India and double the insurance cover for those going to 110 other destinations across the world.
According to the plan, migrant workers for destinations other than India will now have to buy life insurance and general insurance coverage worth Rs 2 million from January 28.
However, workers going to India, after taking permission from the concerned district administration office from February 12, can buy the insurance worth up to Rs 1.25 million.
The announcement was made during a press meet organised at PM's residence in Baluwatar.
Hundreds of Nepalese cross the porous southern border with India every day in search of job opportunities. It seems difficult to implement such a plan due to lack of mechanism to stop the movement of migrant workers at Nepal-India border.
While unveiling the plan, Prachanda said it was aimed at providing better social security schemes to migrant workers, more importantly to the families of those killed and injured at their work destinations.
The decision, if enforced, could benefit more than 5 million Nepalese working at more than 110 work destinations across the world.
"The plan is to make it binding for workers to obtain work approval from the concerned District Administration Office," said an official from Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Officials said it might be extremely hard to persuade workers to buy insurance package due to bureaucratic hassle and cost factor.
"A majority of the people go India because they cannot afford to pay to go to the Gulf or Malaysia. Each worker will at least need Rs 20,000 to follow the due process," according to the official.
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