“Political upheaval at the Labour Ministry continues to hurt Nepali workers”

This month the government of Nepal changed its Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security for the third time in a little over a year…the shift raises serious questions about the capacity of the state to deliver dignified work and social protection at a time of significant economic hardship for millions of people in the country.

Such swift exits are not new: there have been 13 Labour Ministers in Nepal since February 2014. Three of them lasted one year, 10 worked less than a year and two remained in the position for merely a few weeks. At times, the role was vacant for months. Because of this constant upheaval, Labour Ministers depart before gaining an understanding of the climate of exploitation and impunity that migrant workers experience and do not initiate any potential solutions for protection.

Lack of recorded institutional memory keeps the next official from picking up any fixes that could have been advanced…

Efforts must urgently be made to stabilise leadership in the Ministry of Labour. If that is not possible, then it is vital to make a political effort to systematize the institutional memory in the labour administration so that reforms can forward, no matter who is in power…