KATHMANDU: Promising employment to people who lost employment during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) issued ‘Remuneration Procedure for livelihood, 2020’ on November 16.

The KMC has also issued a public notice promising employment and asked the concerned people to contact the respective ward offices.

The program which got some attention for some time failed to attract the targetted group. As the program failed to function as per the expectation, the budget allocated for it has been lying unused and has to be returned now.

Interestingly, the unemployed people in Kathmandu, either did not know the policy or did not want to work according to the plan of the metropolis.

Meanwhile, the KMC stated that it would work in the areas of public infrastructure development, public infrastructure maintenance, sewerage and sidewalk management, heritage protection and beautification, public park protection and green development, government sanitation, and waste management.

Target was to provide employment to 10,000

Kathmandu Metropolis had requested those living in the metropolis to contact at any of its 32 ward offices and register their details for the job.

Although they were informed to fill the application form on the KMC website and to contact the ward, the program was not much effective.

As a result, the number of people applying for employment was very low. According to the KMC sources, only 45 people have applied for employment in a month after the procedure has been issued.

Although 22 wards of the metropolis have provided employment to 45 people, no candidates have applied for employment in 10 Wards.

Does it mean that the Metropolis does not have a record of the unemployed people here?

Khabarhub approached the KMC authority and wondered if the low participation was the result of ignorance about such programs.

Hari Bahadur Kunwar, the Director of KMC’s Urban Management Department responded saying that they do not have details yet.

“We have not yet received any report on which ward has actually generated and provided employment opportunity to more people,” Director Kunwar told Khabarhub, “The wards have been offering employment to the people who claim they are unemployed and have lost livelihood opportunity.”

According to Kunwar, although the early days during lockdown had resulted in job-loss, people gradually returned to their old routine as the market got some momentum.

32 wards failed to utilize the budget of Rs 800,000

A few days after the metropolis issued the Procedure for the Payment for Livelihood, the budget was allocated to all 32 wards of the metropolis.

Buddha Ratna Manandhar, the head of the Finance Department of Kathmandu Metropolitan City informed Khabarhub that the Metropolis had allocated Rs 800,000 for the purpose so that each ward could get Rs. 25,000 each.

“The Metropolis has sent Rs 25,000 to all 32 wards,” Manandhar told Khabarhub, “We have requested the wards to send more details if the budget does not suffice or the number of unemployed increases.”

However, the amount could not be put to good use. Twenty-two wards of the metropolis have employed two persons each and have paid them at the rate of Rs 690 per day.

What do the Ward Chairs say?

The Metropolis statistics show that Ward Nos. 10, 12, 13, 15, 22, 23, 25, 28 and 29 did not receive any application. In other words, the number of applicants for the job in nine out of 32 wards of the metropolis is nil.

Responding to Khabarhub’s question whether no one applied for the job or the ward did not maintain the record of the people whom the local body offered a job, Bikash Dangol, the Ward Chairperson of Ward No. 12 said that no one contacted the ward for the job.

Dangol informed that the Metropolis has already sent Rs. 25,000 immediately after introducing the new Procedure.

“The KMC sent Rs 25,000 then, but no one came asking for a job; now we will look for such people to utilize the budget.”

Speaking on the same issue Macharaja Maharjan, the Ward Chairman of Ward No. 23 said that no one came to their office seeking a job.

Maharjan shared his plan of sending Rs 25,000 to the Metropolis sent them to offer labors work for two days.

“Although many people had lost their job due to COVID-19, most of the people went back to their old routine by the time the Metropolis sent us the budget, Maharjan said, “However, we will return the budget we do not need it here.”