Insurance for migrants
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s announcement on Tuesday on better insurance cover for Nepali migrant workers was timely. In 2015, nearly 1,000 Nepali migrant workers died abroad. In compensation, the families of the deceased each got on average Rs 300,000 from the Foreign Employment Promotion Board and an additional Rs 500,000 from the company where the deceased were employed. A combined package of Rs 800,000 was woefully inadequate for families that had lost their chief bread-winners. This is why the government decision to increase the compensation package to up to Rs 2.7 million for a victim family would come as big solace to around five million Nepali migrant workers—and many more looking to follow on their footsteps. Additionally, if a migrant worker has a fatal illness, he or she will be liable to get up to Rs 500,000 for treatment. A few additional compensation measures for migrant workers have also been announced. That is not all. The government has also made it mandatory for Nepalis looking to work in India to get work permits and to enroll in its compulsory insurance scheme. This is expected to cover up to three million Nepalis already working in India—and many more headed that way.
All these new compensation schemes have been brought for the wellbeing of Nepali migrant workers, who together contribute an amount nearly equal to a fourth of the national GDP. So what is there not to like about them? No, we don’t for a moment doubt the intent behind them. What worries us is the practicality of some of these measures. For instance, how will the new policy of compulsory insurance and work permit for
India-bound workers get implemented when millions of people, from both the sides, cross the open-border without any hindrance every year? Many may decide that even a modest
insurance premium they have to pay (and it is not clear at this point how much they have to fork out exactly) is not worth it. The government also says it will pay the premium of those from the poorest backgrounds. But this will also be easier said than done. The controversy surrounding the compensation packages for earthquake victims offers a cautionary tale. There have been many more fake claims for post-quake funds than there have been genuine ones. With our corrupt bureaucrats, it will be easy to forge documents needed to establish spurious poverty claims. How does the government aim to tackle this problem?
When the prime minister was pressed on these points on Tuesday, he could not come up with convincing answers. This suggests the new insurance schemes are still a work in progress. Nonetheless, we support these new measures because they
signal the Nepali state’s commitment to look after the wellbeing of its citizens toiling abroad—and who contribute so much for the country’s economic health—a commitment that had been egregiously missing in the past. Yes, there will be hurdles, but these can be tackled as and when they arise on a trial-and-error basis. To start with, there should be a mass awareness campaign targeted at potential migrant workers on the benefits of enrolling in its schemes, even if they have to pay a little for it.
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