By Shanker Man Singh
“As soon as you wake up in the morning, you can see the mountains,
May these hands be able to write Nepal….”
How touching are these!
The increasing migration of skilled, professional, and labourers from Nepal poses a great threat to the country’s development, it leaves many questions unanswered. Are we carving our skills to serve ourselves? Are we learning to make ourselves better? Human capital flight, i.e. capital and human resources, commonly referred to as “brain drain”, refers to the migration of skilled and professional individuals in search of better opportunities.
It is high time to find effective ways to combat the “brain drain”. Since everyone wants a secure and stable future providing them with adequate employment opportunities can discourage human capital flight. People have so many career options that they cannot think of leaving their country. No one likes low wages. They want their salary to match their job profile so that they can lead happy, dignified life. Since humans have an innate “fight or flight response”, a flight is essentially possible if they are unable to fight in search of a safe life. Therefore, it is important to protect their political, social, cultural and religious rights. It became public knowledge that sometimes the government plan to thinking of discourage young people from migrating abroad, but they are not practical and busy.
The government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba announced that it would bring a program to prevent energetic young people from migrating abroad. The plan was to give practicality to ‘Youth’s Rights: Education and Employment. Labour experts say that all the governments after 2006 have announced that they will provide employment, but they have not been able to do it.
About five lakhs people enter the labour market in Nepal every year. Three-quarters of them are forced to go for foreign employment without getting a job in the country. The previous government had announced the end of compulsory foreign employment. But forced foreign employment has not yet ended.
The government has not been able to provide skill-based training to workers who want to do business in the country and who are going to work abroad. As a result, unskilled workers are forced to go for foreign employment. Foreign nationals are getting opportunities in the country. The government’s policy is to encourage a culture that respects labour as development and its main basis is labour. The government has a plan to increase production activities within the country and provide employment. A program has been launched to encourage Nepali people who have returned with capital and technology from foreign employment to start employment-oriented businesses within the country.
There is a plan to improve the management of public institutions and make them professional, competitive and effective. It is the government’s policy to operate and mobilize the relevant agencies to complete the development and construction works of electricity, water, sewerage, communication etc. in an integrated and balanced manner.
It has been mentioned in the government’s program to mobilize the cooperative sector to alleviate poverty and promote employment. The government has a plan to provide financial assistance to the labourers, employment and the poor who are highly affected by Covid.
It has been a long time since the flute of ‘Prosperous Nepal Happy Nepali’ started playing in Nepal. People have queued up for foreign employment with their passports in hand. Even after five years of the formation of a stable government, the Nepali people have not been able to think of an option to do something in their own country. Nepal’s villages are becoming more and more empty. It is sad to say that some villages are run by women as all males have gone abroad for a job.
According to the latest data from the Department of Foreign Employment, 6 lakh Nepalese youths migrate abroad every year. This trend is increasing day by day, not decreasing. It is a bitter reality of not being able to get a job in the country according to one’s skills and abilities, migrating abroad is not the last option.
Young people who have passed SEE have the mindset to start dreaming of foreign countries without even studying Plus Two. The harsh reality is that the parents are encouraging the young generation to go abroad, be it out of curiosity or compulsion. Therefore, the dream of foreign employment has taken root in their hearts, the young generation has become unable to stay in the villages and cities. Unless there is a change in the thinking of the government, society, and the youth, it is not possible to stop migration abroad.
Government must be able to say we will give you more than what you are looking for there. You are your own boss in your own country, elsewhere you are always number two, no matter how smart you are. There is no money in trees. Wherever you go, you have to work. If you go to gulf countries, it’s mostly for very painful labour and the climate is horrible.
No country will allow foreigners to do their native work unless they can. There are many opportunities in Nepal. With young people going to work abroad, most educated people choose non-profit or government or private sector ‘jobs’, which means less competition for you. Go and start a company.
A high unemployment rate means you can build a team around motivated young people who are eager to stay employed. Plus, you’ll gain their goodwill and loyalty to hopefully build a long-term sustainable company. No matter how chaotic the situation seems right now, things will get better.
People currently in a foreign job should return in the future, at that time, they don’t know what to do. Start a company or find a job, something you can do now and when they come back, you’ll be the leader. And last of all, because you owe something to this beautiful country that you were always proud of.
You now have a choice: either make your own dreams come true or “you’ll be hired to make someone else’s dream come true.” What is the guarantee for a good life when you leave Nepal? Of course, you’ll see and learn a lot, so please travel and expand your horizons, but you’ll eventually miss Nepal’s laid-back culture.
People in the West are very “workaholics”. You’ll rarely see people gossiping under the sun and clicking their tongues on sour clementines, which you’d probably take for granted by now. Try to look at your life more holistically, and get your priorities straight. If you’re all about communal harmony and sociability, Nepal (or really anywhere in South Asia) will make you happy. If you don’t care much about it, taste it and decide for yourself.
Nepal is a land of opportunities, the unexplored, untouched, perfect soil for aspiring entrepreneurs and leaders. Nepal needs you and me. We can hope shortly when we will have a youth-driven economic revolution, a generation of social entrepreneurs, and the dawn of a new era.
Many at that age wanted to go abroad and have a better life. They did not want to go abroad to get a good education, learn new things and bring back what they learned for the betterment of the country, but to become rich and get out of the so-called ‘suffering life’ of Nepal. Many people in the West have lost touch with humanity and very few people will be willing to help you even when you are fighting on the street.
You will experience first-hand the term racism that you may have just heard in a book or on TV.
Since Nepal imports a lot, make Nepal less dependent by developing tourism, by increasing other sources of vital foreign exchange.
It can help a lot if the youth don’t have to face so much hardship, to educate themselves and look for opportunities abroad after all that education. It doesn’t happen all at once. Nepal should invest heavily in its infrastructure, industrialize a bit, so it doesn’t import so much and ensure a steady flow of money to its central treasury.
Another big motivation is a stable government that actually has policies and regulations in place for its people, infrastructure and incentives for young entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in areas ranging from cyberspace to bank lending.
If we consider the fertile working age in Nepal from 15 to 64 years, In 2021, about 66.02 percent in the 15-64 age group and about 5.91 percent were over 65 years of age. The young people who go for foreign employment are of this age.
Every year, a large number of the country’s hardworking and talented youth migrate abroad, which is like a flood carrying away the fertile topsoil of the land. Undoubtedly, the main responsible for the terrible situation of youth exodus are the bandhs, strikes, and the lack of proper employment in the country for those who have obtained higher education.
Although there has been a slight improvement, most of the problems have not been eliminated. To stop the growing trend of young people going abroad, it is necessary to provide a guarantee of employment in the country, respect for all types of labour, and social security to allow the unemployed to live. Also, solving this systemic problem with seriousness is the need of the day.
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