Kathmandu, December 29: The fourth meeting of the labour parliament of the Joint Trade Union Coordination Centre (JTUCC) has recommended the government to make social security scheme mandatory by amending the existing tax law.
Noting that the implementation of a contribution-based social security program witnessed additional complications, the center said that ill-efforts are being made to create unnecessary disputes and rumor on social security schemes for fulfilling the vested interests of a handful of businesspeople.
It also demanded the government to incentivize those joining the scheme and discourage those ignoring to become the part as well as bring those to justice who remained adamant not to join the classification list.
The fourth meeting drew a conclusion to celebrate 2020 mainly to campaign for effective implementation of the social security schemes and labor law. The meeting also decided to mount public pressure for the full-fledged implementation of the social security scheme with the formulation of social security work procedure and amendment in a way to include formal, informal and self-employed laborers.
Though a year has elapsed since the social security scheme has been announced there is no remarkable participation of employers and employees. According to the Social Security Fund, as many as 11,902 employers and 135,449 employees have been so far enlisted in the scheme. As of now, the contribution amount Rs 333.51 million has been deposited in the fund. -According to the central bureau of statistics, about 900,000 employment providing agencies have been so far registered in the country.
During the meeting, the stakeholders demanded ensuring legal provision of not to slash employees’ existing perks and benefits while implementing the social security scheme. The attention of the government was drawn to avail the cash amount of one percent social security tax collected from workers and civil servants. Also, the meeting urged for arranging at least 10 percent representation of the workers in each elected structure and policy-making level.
It decided to initiate the implementation of the legal provisions enabling environment towards the creation of employment opportunities in the country and discouraging workforce to opt for foreign employment.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Ishwar Pokharel warned that there was no ‘if and but’ to the employers in the implementation of the contribution-based social security scheme. Pokharel urged the employers to shun their traditional and narrow mindset regarding the scheme. “Effective implementation of the Labour Act is a must. There is no exemption in it, this is punishable,” Pokharel clarified the government position. Expecting the constructive public pressure for its implementation, he hoped that the upcoming campaign of the JTUCC would be guided towards the sam
On the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security Binod Shrestha assured that the money collected in the social security fund won’t be misused and urged all the employers and employees to immediately participate in the scheme.
Chairman of Nepal Trade Union Congress Pushkar Acharya argued that public pressure should be piled for the full implementation of the scheme and the Labour Act.
Likewise, outgoing chairman Binod Shrestha handed over the responsibility of the JTUCC to Chairman of Nepal Trade Union Congress Acharya. The leadership of the JTUCC is being transferred in every next year
