KATHMANDU- Gokarna Bista, Minister Labor, Employment and Social Security accuses politicians and entrepreneurs of obstructing the benevolent schemes of social security all across the country.
His accusation comes at a time when political leaders owning business enterprises and industries have failed to register themselves in the list for ensuring the fulfillment of social security measures proposed by the Government of Nepal.
He has been frank in his remark to say that those blaming refusal to implement the social security schemes by employers or resistance from the workers or throwing up excuses relating to technological complexity are lying blatantly.
Gokarna Bista thunders, “Social security schemes are hanging in limbo waiting to be implemented for long due to the apathy of Nepali politicians who own business and industries. These politicians have not registered themselves in the list prepared by the Government of Nepal thereby putting entire gamut of concerned laws on hold preventing it from implementation.”
He continues: “I am planning to make public their names so that people of Nepal will come to know about them who are playing the foul game.” He wondered on the double-standard of fellow politicians saying, “They are the ones who hailed the social security schemes as a historical step but refused to comply with the initial requirement of listing their firms, organizations, and enterprises with the concerned ministry.”
He requests all the employers to convey his message saying that the government was trying its best to make them commit to their oath and promises which they made before occupying the seat in parliament.
It is almost a year since the government enacted a law for providing social security to workers. However, many workers are unaware of the provisions of social security.
Minister Gokarna Bista exhorts the employees working in factories and industries to press for their rights of social security and lobby for the registration of their names in the list for getting the benefits of the scheme launched by the Government.
Gokarna Bista advises, “The initiative of listing all the beneficiaries for social security is already in progress. I once again call upon you to get your names registered with us both as employees (workers) and the employer by the end of the month of Asoj (September 18 – October 18)..”
Kapilmani Gyawali, Executive Director of Social Security Scheme, endorses the concerns and directions expressed by the Minister Bista and elaborates, ‘Workers who are beneficiary under the Social Security Scheme receives all the expenditure of medical treatment, maternity leave, old-age- security, insurance against accidents, provisions for getting disabled during the course of work, security to dependents of workers among others. It is always advisable to get listed for getting benefitted by the scheme of social security.’
Binod Shrestha, President of the Coordination Committee of the Joint Trade Union laments the prevailing state of affairs, “It is to really find out more why employers and workers are disinclined to come forward to welcome the scheme when it is almost a year when the provisions of social security were pressed into action.”
Actually, the Social Security scheme launched by the government collects a part of the money from the workers and then other services such as health treatment, accidents insurance, and others are given to workers out of that collected amount.
Workers are not very confident about these schemes as they don’t want to lose any part of their wages to get the promised facilities in the name of social security.
Furthermore, they have to deposit a part of their salary (or wage) for a long period of 15 years to get an old-age pension. The issue such as what will happen to their money deposited regularly for 15 long years always haunt the workers as they hear the cases of corruption in Government department. It is upon the Government to earn the confidence of workers failing which the social security scheme will never succeed.
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