Govt. Enhancing Compensation and Aid for Families of Deceased Overseas Workers
The government is prepared to increase the compensation amount for workers who pass away while employed abroad. The budget for the current financial year 2080/81 has allocated funds to raise this compensation. Measures are being taken to enhance the compensation received by families of deceased workers.
This year, the budget has been allocated to modernize the compensation amount. Currently, if a worker employed abroad dies, their family receives compensation of 7 lakh rupees. The government plans to raise this amount. However, the precise increment will only be determined once the procedures are established. The procedure will ascertain whether the compensation will increase to 9, 10, or 12 lakhs. We are currently in the preparatory stages of creating this procedure. The compensation of 7 lakh rupees has been in effect since the financial year 2074/75.
The ministry also noted that this procedure will also impact the scholarship amounts given to the children of workers who lost their lives while working abroad. The government currently offers scholarships from early education to class 12. Presently, students up to class 8 receive an annual scholarship of Rs 8,000, while those above class 8 are granted 12,000 rupees annually. The exact scholarship amounts will be determined by the upcoming procedure.
Efforts have been made to improve the service facilities provided to workers, as they are currently not up to date. The compensation will also extend to workers who return from foreign employment after enduring challenges.
In addition to compensating the families of the deceased, the procedure will address the compensation for laborers who return from abroad with disabilities, injuries, or illegal suffering. We are currently working on strategies for both the families of the deceased and other workers who need government assistance.
The government is in the process of consolidating funds to enhance worker welfare. Currently, compensation is provided from three separate funds for workers: the Employment Welfare Fund, the Social Security Fund, and Insurance. The ministry is actively working towards integrating these three funds for a streamlined approach.
It is noteworthy that Nepalis going abroad for employment were only recently included in the social security fund. The employment welfare fund collects a specific amount when workers go abroad, which is then allocated as compensation to families of deceased workers.
Regarding the number of workers who die while employed abroad, data from the Foreign Employment Board until Jestha 2079/80 reveals that 1032 individuals died in a span of 10 months. Similarly, 1,479 laborers lost their lives in the financial year 2078/79. This data implies that an average of four workers' bodies are repatriated to Nepal every day. Furthermore, the data shows that over 1,000 workers have died abroad annually since the financial year 2077/78.
Feature image courtesy: Business 360
