Government cash in on migrant worker’s plights

The global economy has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.  Countries around the world have been implementing various strategies to control and prevent Covid-19.

However, the Government of Nepal is not focused on implementing effective strategies to control Covid-19. Government representatives have been claiming that they have spent billions of rupees in importing medicines and arrangement of quarantine facilities. But the results are not encouraging.

The recent case of state-owned Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) aircraft returning from Dubai without any migrant worker is a shameful act of the government.

Huge number of migrants are desperate to return home in Nepal amid Covid-19 crisis. However, the government has not been putting any effort to ease the situation for the migrant workers. In the name of chartered flights, the government has been collecting fares from the migrant workers three times the normal rate even though the workers are compelled to return to Nepal because of job loss. These migrants, who were continuously adding fuel to the country’s economy are now compelled to pay high price to get back to Nepal. This careless decision of the government is really unfair for these migrants.

Not only for the chartered flights, but the government has also been charging very high rate for arrangement of quarantine facility for these migrant workers upon their return to Nepal.

The government is unlikely to control the spread of coronavirus until it is genuinely willing to help the people affected by the pandemic, including the migrant workers.

What is the role of the government? Is it to protect the citizens from this crisis or to abuse itspower by taking commission in every public welfare duty?