Government passes criterion for employment coordinator

Amid suspicion that the government will appoint its cadres for the post of employment coordinator, the government approved criteria for Appointment of Employment Coordinator-2019.
According to the criteria, an employment coordinator will be hired on contract basis. “The position of the employment coordinator – though is filled with open competition – will be temporary with the term not exceeding one year,” the criteria read, adding that the coordinator can, however, be re-appointed for one more term on contract basis.
The government is appointing employment coordinator to make the Prime Minister Employment programme (PMEP) successful. The Prime Minister Employment Programme is the ambitious programme – relaunched by the incumbent Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli – to create temporary employment for a jobless Nepali citizen. The unemployed people between 18 to 59 years of age will be given 100 days of employment in a fiscal year, under the Prime Ministers Employment Programme (PMEP). A jobless will also get vocational and skill-orientated training along with employment-related information. The programme has been implemented in all the 753 local levels, and an employment coordinator is important person to make the programme successful.
The post of employment coordinator at Employment Service Centres will be set up in all the 753 local levels. “A local level having population of more than 10,000 will have one employment coordinator equivalent to the sixth level of local service, while a municipality or rural municipality with less than 10,000 population will have an employment coordinator, whose post will be equivalent to the fifth level of local service,” the criteria reads, adding that a Nepali citizen with at least bachelor’s degree will be eligible for the post of employment coordinator equivalent to the sixth level of local service. “However, academic qualification of employment coordinator equivalent to the fifth level is proficiency certificate level.”
The criteria also fixed the maximum age limit for both the posts at 45 years.
Like any other government appointment, the candidate convicted of criminal offences involving moral turpitude will not be eligible to apply for the posts. “A three-member committee led by a subject expert will be formed for the appointment of employment coordinator,” the criteria read, adding that
As the local levels have to appoint the employment coordinator through open competititon, they have to publish or broadcast the advertisement through local and national level newspapers and electronic media to fill the post. “The candidates should be shortlisted on merit basis,” the criteria read, adding that a person with the best score in written and practical exams will be appointed. “The chief administrative officer of the local level will conduct performance evaluation of employment coordinator every four months. If the performance of the employment coordinator is found not satisfactory, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security may recommend the local level concerned to dismiss him or her.”
The employment coordinator will update the list of unemployed persons, issue identity cards to unemployed, identify employment opportunities within the local level, carry out employment mapping, liaise with employers for providing employment opportunities to the listed unemployed persons, recommend skill development training for unemployed persons, disseminate necessary information to persons wishing to go abroad for foreign employment and distribute allowance to unemployed persons though the banking channel, according to the criteria.

National employment summit concludes

Lack of skilled manpower in the construction sector has led the country's construction companies to hire labourers from India even after the government move to make it mandatory for workers of any sector to acquire a Permanent Account Number (PAN).
Registration of employees with the social security fund is also a challenge for the construction sector, said secretary general of the Federation of Contractors' Association of Nepal – during the National Labor and Employment Conference-2019 – Rosan Dahal.
Asking the entrepreneurs to spend most of their time in developing products, providing skills to the staff, and finding potential markets – during a panel session on ‘Work Culture and Dignity of Labour’, at the conference – he said that ensuring occupational, health, and safety facilities for workers and staffs can help in developing good work culture.
The entrepreneurs, on the occasion, also asked the government to help them find local raw material to manufacture Nepali products with economy of scale, in an organised way. The conference – organised by the government with an objective to identifying opportunities and gaps for employment creation and developing dialogue led consensus towards tackling pertinent labour and employment issues in Nepal – concluded today.
The founder of a startup cotton mill, in another session of the conference, 'Youth Employment in Nepal', Prasanna Basnet, said that the government should implement the programme announced in the budget. The discussion also focused on lack of access to resources for the entrepreneurs from the rural areas.
The two-day conference with a good participation from startup founders, entrepreneurs out of Kathmandu, students and representatives of trade unions, few representatives from the private sector and almost none from multinationals participated in the event, also discussed on utilisation of the knowledge and skills from returnee migrants were also discussed during the conference.