Social Security Scheme Operating Procedure-2079 comes into effect

Kathmandu:  Nepal government has started joining Nepali migrant workers in the contribution-based Social Security Scheme Operating Procedure-2079.

The scheme, which is operating under the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security,  has officially started joining migrating workers and self-employed workers in foreign lands to the fund after an official program held on Wednesday.

The secretary of the Ministry and treasurer of the fund Ek Narayan Aryal said that the procedure is being updated and the fund software system has been interlinked with the Foreign Employment Information Management System (FEMIS) of the Department of Foreign Employment.

Aryal added that the data of the migrant workers going and self-employed in a foreign land is being added to the fund starting Wednesday.

The government had given the green signal for the Social Security Scheme Operating Procedure-2079 for the workers proceeding towards foreign employment and self-employment in the last week of Mangsir.

Aryal said that after 90 days of the acceptance of the procedure, it came into effect on Chaitra 8 (Wednesday).

The ministry has collaborated with Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRN) in order to add all the migrant Nepali workers, on the basis of their contribution, working in a foreign land to the fund.

The ministry has also informed that non-resident Nepali people running businesses in foreign will also be included in the fund.

Although the workers in the private sector were included in the social security scheme five years back, the self-employed, unofficial, and workers in a foreign land were not part of the fund.

According to the fund, it is mandatory for the person having a work permit to be registered in the FEMIS. The workers, who are already in a foreign land can register themselves as per their will to become part of the scheme.

For the registration, one after getting a work permit will get a number that will act as a channel for being registered into the scheme. The person has to compulsory be part of this scheme despite being part of the social security fund in the destined country.

The worker can contribute at least 21.33 percent of his/her basic minimum monthly salary to be part of the scheme. One can contribute 3 times of the least contributory amount as the highest contribution to be part of the scheme.

The one who contributes to the scheme on a regular basis will get numerous scheme benefits like health treatment, maternity protection contribution accident, disability protection scheme, dependent family protection scheme, and old age protection scheme as well as many more.

There is also a provision of getting a 10 percent discount if the worker contributes to the fund in advance. Likewise, the worker will get a 20 percent discount if is able to show evidence of remitting 70 percent of the total income left after the expenditure through the official medium.

If one does not take the accident, disability, and dependent family protection scheme, there is an availability of a 20 percent discount. A person who comes back to Nepal can be part of an official, unofficial, and self-employed scheme in the future. The worker can also take a loan from the fund.

A total of 17 thousand 737 employers and 3 lakhs 99 thousand 566 contributors have been part of the fund scheme already. The fund has succeeded to raise an amount of 30 Arab 87 crore rupees till now.