Labour Minister reiterates govt's commitment to youth employment, skills development

KATHMANDU: Minister for Youth, Labour and Employment Ramjee Yadav has emphasised the government’s commitment to youth empowerment, skills development, entrepreneurship and employment.

Responding to questions from lawmakers in the National Assembly meeting on Tuesday, he stressed the importance of ensuring safe and dignified foreign employment while increasing domestic job opportunities. Through the Remi project, the government has provided orientation and counselling services to more than 20,000 people in the Koshi and Madhes regions who have returned from abroad.

Minister Yadav said 1,066 returnees have secured employment and 936 have developed business plans with support from local government. He underlined the need to link the skills and experience of returning citizens with national development initiatives, particularly through the Prime Minister’s Employment Programme.

The minister said efforts are underway to compile integrated data on employment issues. He added that inspections of 1,321 establishments for labour exploitation have been carried out, resulting in fines.

The government has declared the decade beginning in 2083 as the Employment Promotion Decade and is preparing a draft of the National Employment Policy, 2083, to update the existing framework. Yadav also announced the initiation of policy work on the care economy and stressed the importance of a robust labour inspection system to enforce labour rights effectively.

He called for extending social security to informal workers and said the ministry’s budget is now focused on programmes that maximise outcomes from limited resources. Expansion of youth employment and empowerment initiatives will involve collaboration with ministries and agencies across education, industry, agriculture and tourism.

By RSS