Despite facing criticism from several quarters for its failure to properly implement the existing policies and programmes the government is all set to launch the National Employment Authority (NEA) to govern the overall employment sector.

Some of the programmes that the government has been running at present but which have not been as successful as envisaged are the Prime Minister Employment Programme (PMEP) and the Youth Employment Programme.

Ganesh Gurung, a labour expert, said that establishing the NEA should not be a priority of the government in the current situation. “At present we have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic and many people have lost their jobs so the government should not waste its energy forming authorities as such,” he said, adding that it should look into ways in how jobs can be created in the future.

However, Ram Kumar Phuyal, a member of the National Planning Commission (NPC), said that establishing the NEA has been accorded priority so as to explore employment opportunities in the country. “We are drafting the NEA Act and we will examine and analyse all aspects as per the demand and supply situation of employment in the nation before we introduce it,” he added.

It is on the recommendation of the NPC that the government is preparing to set up the National Employment Authority through the annual budget for fiscal year 2020-21. The 15th periodic plan of the government had also envisioned establishing such an authority to effectively implement different employment-related policies and programmes of the government and address other employment-related issues.

Phuyal further said that NEA will act as the governing body of the overall employment sector including the government and private sector. “We hope the NPC will be able to introduce the act by this ongoing fiscal year.”

However, Gurung said that the government should focus on employment generation programmes rather than establishing a governing body. “If the government is unable to address the employment aspirations of the youths then the consequences could be really bad as there will be massive unemployment in the country,” he stated.

Amid criticism over the failure of the PMEP, the new leadership at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) is preparing to revive the programme and has vowed to employ over 60,000 youths in the current fiscal year. Last year, 177,000 unemployed youths had benefited from the PMEP. For the programme, the government had allotted Rs 3.5 billion. Similarly, the government has allocated Rs 5.1 billion for employing 60,000 youths in the current fiscal year.

“The government should not waste time creating the authority as both the provincial and local governments will also have to be included in the process which is gong to be time consuming,” Gurung added.

Suman Ghimire, joint secretary at the MoLESS, said they are coordinating with the NPC to establish the authority. “We are also holding consultations with concerned ministries and stakeholders and taking their suggestions,” he said, adding it will take at least one year to complete all the process to establish the authority.

“We are holding discussions on whether the authority will govern, control or facilitate the overall employment sector of the country,” Ghimire said.

source: the himalayan times, 27 April 2020

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