KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Youth, Labour and Employment has held a discussion with representatives of private sector in a bid to prepare an environment for creating jobs within country. In this connection, a discussion organized at the Ministry on Thursday laid emphasis on ensuring training at workplaces and making effective the apprenticeship/trainee programmes in the coming fiscal year.

The programme chaired by Minister for Youth, Labour and Employment, Ramaji Yadav, shared information that the Ministry was advancing new policy and thoughts for labour management in line with the government’s announcement of the coming decade as the promotion of domestic jobs.

The Ministry has forwarded a plan to provide workplace-based training to run more than 12 major domestic employment programmes in the coming fiscal year. The ‘Shram Sansar’ online portal will be made further systematic.

Representatives of the private sector however expressed worry that the government regarded private sector only as a ‘witness’.

In response, the Minister pledged that the government would not make private sector mere ‘witness’ but take onboard as ‘partner’ for progress, for which mutual cooperation and coordination would be forwarded accordingly. Employment generation and skill development are government’s priorities, the Minister added.

The representatives of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce stressed that training should be demand-based and that the private sector be taken on board while preparing skills curriculum and certification to job seekers and trainees.

Alignment of jobs to market needs, mobilization of available workforces, guarantee of smooth electricity supply for small industries, tax reduction and exemption to house rent, rewards to the employers maintaining gender balance in their companies/business, easy acquisition of permit for women entrepreneurs were pronounced issues during meeting.

The event was also attended by lawmaker Bidushi Rana and Anushka Shrestha, joint secretaries from the related ministries and other high level officials from the private sector.