Govt mulls sector-wise minimum wage rates

KATHMANDU, JAN 08 -

With the time to review workers’ basic salary inching closer, the government is mulling sector-wise minimum wage rate.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) is planning to hold discussions with employers’ organisations and trade unions to this effect. As of now, minimum salary scale is same across all sectors.

As per the labour laws, workers’ minimum salary is reviewed every two years. The pay scale was last revised in March 2011 and was hiked to Rs 6,200 per month.

“This time, we are planning to set different pay scales for different sectors,” said Som Lal Subedi, secretary at the Labour Ministry. “As some sectors are providing more than the government -fixed salary, we are exploring possibilities for setting minimum wage rate based on what workers are getting in a particular sector and the sector’s performance.”

However, employers said implementing different minimum wage rates ‘is not an easy task’ as it requires extensive study and flexibility from both worker unions and employers. Employers’ organisations said a flat rate pay increase is the best way to avoid any possible dispute between employees and employers.

The private sector and trade unions affiliated to different political parties have started pressuring the government to start work on salary revision in time.

Pashupati Murarka, vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), said they have requested the Labour Ministry to call a meeting of the Central Labour Advisory Committee (CLAC) to discuss the salary issue. “We are ready to sit for talks and increase the minimum salary as per the situation of the private sector and consumer price index,” he added. The CLAC under the coordination of the Labour Minister has been authorised to fix minimum salary of workers’. The CLAC has representations from employers’ organisations and worker unions.

According to the All Nepal Trade Union Federation (ANTUF), it has formally requested the FNCCI and the Labour Ministry to hold a tri-party discussion before workers are forced to launch protests. “It will be better if we reach an agreement by mid-February. Both the Labour Ministry and the FNCCI are positive to hold consultations on the issue soon,” said Salik Ram Jammarkattel, president of ANTUF. He added based on the inflation rate, the government must increase the minimum salary to Rs 10,000 per month.

Another trade union, General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT) has also showed urgency for a new salary structure. “We are working with the FNCCI to sign an agreement for the Industrial Relation Forum. And immediately after the signing of that agreement, we will concentrate on the salary issue,” said Bishnu Rimal, president of GEFONT.

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A new place for a cuppa

KATHMANDU, JAN 10 -
Much to the joy of
coffee-enthusiasts in Kathmandu, Himalayan Java, a well known coffee-house that boasts a number of outlets around Nepal and overseas, recently announced the opening of their newest branch, right smack in the heart of the city, in Basantapur. The new venue, Java’s ninth so far, was officially launched on January 9 amid a fair amount of fanfare.
Java was first established in the year 1999 by Gagan Pradhan and Anand Gurung, who have been hard at work promoting the coffee culture in the country, and doing visibly well at it too. The beans used in Java’s coffee list offerings are all sourced from Nepal-based farms, thereby supporting local growers, and marketing manager Samragya Karmacharya says that coffee grown here has its own
distinct character and flavour.
The Basantapur branch hopes to draw in tourists and youngsters who frequent the Basantapur Durbar Square and Jhonchhen areas, and response, according to Karmacharya, has been great
during the two-week trial that was held before the official launch. “Given the number of people
we’re already seeing, we’re
hoping to make it a 24-hour
operation,” he says.
Professor Abhi Subedi, who inaugurated the new branch, recalls going to Java in its early years. Although a large number of new coffee places have opened up in the last decade around the city, Subedi says that there is something about Java’s ambience and quality that has made it such a long-standing haunt for coffee-lovers. “It wasn’t just any old cafe,” he says. “It was a meeting place where you could see journalists, musicians, artists, actors and even politicians on any given day.” Subedi even goes so far as to say that he actually enjoys being around the couples that frequent the cafe—it makes him nostalgic about his younger days. He says that, over time, he’s come to see Java as his own personal retreat of sorts. “I write here, and I set up a lot of meetings with people, especially my students, here as well,” he says. “I’m sure I’ll be just as often a visitor at the new branch.”

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Govt suspends issuance of radio license

KATHMANDU, Jan 10: In a bid to regularize the operations and licensing of radio stations, Ministry of Information and Communications has suspended issuance of radio license effective from Wednesday. The ministry has said it will resume the licensing process after the formulation of new parameters that will differentiate the license of the radio categorically into commercial or community. Currently most of the radio operators whether community or commercial run on similar format with similar nature of contents. Likewise, the licensing conditions are also similar irrespective of the category. MoIC has formed a committee to recommend new parameters and standards to differentiate the categories of radio stations so that distribution of new license can be done on the basis of new standards differentiating the category. The ministry is also preparing to limit the number of license on the basis of advertisement market, geographical location and availability of frequency, among others once the new standard is enacted. Anup Nepal, under secretary of MoIC who is also the member of the newly formed committee for categorization of radio, said once the committee submits the report the ministry will issue the license only if the radio fits to be in the particularly category in terms of infrastructure, investment, program content and other factors. Nepal said once the standard is set, existing radio stations will also have to comply with the regulation. “Existing radio stations will also have to change their contents and other features and will have to take one particular category,” he said, adding that the categorization will ease the monitoring process. MoIC has so far issued license to more than 475 stations out of which only 375 are in operation. However, the suspension will not impact 100 radio stations that have already applied for the license. “We will not entertain new applications, but the applications that are already under processing will move ahead,” added Nepal. The committee is expected to submit its report after a month.

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One killed in road accident

RATNANAGR, Jan 10: A truck (Na 4 Kha 7628) en route to Kathmandu-from Bhairahawa knocked down a pedestrian at Darechowk in Chitwan district on Thursday.

The District Police Office has informed that the deceased has been identified as Nar bahadur Oli, 69, of a Banke Bankatta-8 .
The truck had knocked him while he was crossing the road.

After first aid in a local clinic he was taken to Bharatpur Medical College where he breathed his last at 2:00 AM, police said.

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