The expose of high profile corruption at the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) is just the tip of a vast iceberg of corruption and irregularities at the highly sought-after ministry. Even a simple visit to the ministry and the Department of Foreign Employment will reveal malpractices and everyone from lower-rung staffers to higher up bosses involved in the abuse of power.

Labour Minister Kumar Belbase , a CPN-ML leader, caught on tape soliciting bribes from foreign employment agencies. He took charge just as the government had halted the issuance of licences to new overseas employment companies, based on a 30-point suggestion by a high level panel.

In October last year, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had directed the ministry not to issue licences to new agencies until a strict mechanism is put in place to regulate the foreign employment industry. However, instead of focussing on reformation and regulation, Belbase seems to have encouraged malpractices from the very top.

“The government is weakening the morale of clean officials in the ministry by appointing corrupt persons to the post of minister,” said a high level ministry official on condition of anonymity.

The “tape scandal” points out a subtle but widespread corruption at the bureaucratic level. The ministry, the Department of Foreign Employment and the Foreign Employment Promotion Board have long been platforms for bribery and corruption.

Bribes are so lucrative, sources said, that even junior level officials are ready to spend large sums of money to get transferred to the DoFE. The government has classified the MoLE an ‘A’ category ministry, which means that it is financially lucrative. Ironically, its financial benefit is extracted from the people.

“There are loopholes for corruption in the existing system,” said Bal Bahadur Tamang, chairman of the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies. “In the name of regulating manpower companies, the government has made it difficult for the legitimate companies to work.”

Tamang claimed that the prime minister does not seem to have ‘learned from his past mistakes’ and has overlooked the fact that the MoLE generates around one fourth of the national income.  

It is said that corruption is so widespread that it has spread to the issuance of licences to pre-departure training centres and health centres. Insititutions have been misuing health certificates and orientation certificates, which not only lead to a loss of money but also place migrant workers at great risk in foreign countries.

Only few months ago, the Nepal Police’s Crime Investigation Bureau (CIB) had revealed a link between DoFE officials and human trafficking agents disguised as travel agencies and education consultancies. Workers and employment companies claim it has become a ritual for migrant workers and legitimate agents to pay bribes even for minor work.

Time and again, attention has drawn to instances of corruption and the misuse of authority at the DoFE and the MoLE. The government has been accused of not doing much to regulate the industry to make it recent, organised and systematic.

Lately, the government imposed a syndicate on the entry of officials into the ministry. According to the new provision, any official wishing to work in the DoFE must have worked earlier at the MoLE.

Experts believe that the integrity of the incumbent government and PM Bhattarai rests on how well they now tackle the recent scandal. Punishment aside, a proper response would take into account the welfare of migrant workers, a new employment agency registration process and a complete overhaul so that there is tangible reformation in a corrupt and failing system.