Govt unveils new employment drive, drops old scheme

KATHMADU: The Government of Nepal has officially scrapped the Prime Minister Employment Program initiated by former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and introduced a new initiative titled the National Employment Promotion Program, aiming to create more productive and sustainable job opportunities.

The earlier program had come under heavy criticism for deploying foreign loan-funded labor into low-productivity activities such as weeding and ditch-digging.

Growing public and policy pressure led to its discontinuation.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, the new program has been launched through a ministerial decision, with a detailed operational guideline already in effect.

The initiative will serve as a unified framework to implement the government’s Internal Employment Promotion Decade Campaign, focusing on skill development, entrepreneurship, and long-term job creation.

Ministry spokesperson Pitambar Ghimire confirmed that the Prime Minister Employment Program no longer exists. “In its place, we have introduced a new national model that will be implemented at the federal, provincial, and all 753 local levels,” he said.

Under the new program, young jobseekers entering the labor market will receive training based on market demand, along with support for wage employment, self-employment, and entrepreneurship. Special emphasis will be placed on reintegrating returnee migrant workers by utilizing their skills, capital, experience, and technology for domestic economic growth.

The program will also include minimum employment schemes targeting unemployed individuals registered at local employment service centers.

A budget of nearly Rs 2 billion has already been allocated for the program in the current fiscal year.

To oversee implementation, a National Steering Committee has been formed, chaired by the Minister for Labour. Members include secretaries from the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Federal Affairs, along with a representative from the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

Employment service centers will be established at the local level to manage job matching, social security coordination, child labor prevention, foreign employment facilitation, entrepreneurship support, and skills utilization of returnee migrants.

The program will also introduce structured vocational training of at least 390 hours, with 80 percent practical and 20 percent theoretical learning. Training will be aligned with labor market demand and conducted in collaboration with industries and private-sector institutions.

The National Vocational Training Institute will approve curricula, conduct skill testing, and issue certifications.

The guidelines further allow partnerships with private companies and non-governmental organizations to ensure sustainable employment generation and demand-driven skill development.

Officials say the new model aims to shift Nepal’s employment policy from temporary relief-based jobs to a long-term, productivity-focused national workforce strategy.