KARNALI, Feb 18: The global pandemic of coronavirus is still highly prevalent. Some countries have taken tough lockdown measures to contain possible spread of the virus.
Although Nepal has recently rolled out COVID-19 vaccination drive, the fear psychology of the virus is still gripping the people. Despite this, the number of youths aspiring to go abroad for work has not seen any decline.
As many as 1,373 youths have obtained passports in Surkhet since the beginning of the pandemic. Among them, 492 youths received the passport through fast track, according to the data maintained by the District Administration Office (DAO), Surkhet.
Information Officer of the DAO Shree Shumsher Rana said the exodus of youths to foreign countries has not come down as there are limited job opportunities in the country. “Those returning home during high prevalence of coronavirus are also bound to travel to their earlier labour destinations even as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc.”
Youths have again decided to go abroad as the government’s plan to start income generation and employment programmes targeting migrant returnees has yet to be materialized, he said.
According to the Labour and Employment Office, over 200 youths of Karnali have obtained re-work permits in the last six months. While going through the statistics of the last three years, the number of youths from Karnali Province seeking work permits has actually increased.
The Labour and Employment Office shared that a total of 926 youths had obtained work permits in the fiscal year 2075/76 BS. The number has increased to 2,026 in the fiscal year 2076/77 BS, shared office chief Sunita Darlami. Most of those obtaining re-work permits are flying to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Qatar and Malaysia. Number of youths going to India is no less than the number of youths going to the Gulf countries for employment.
(RSS)