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In editorial reviewNepali translation awaiting review

Work at home is limited and many leave for jobs abroad

Which interventions create sustained, fairly paid work rather than only training enrolments?

Place-specific evidence and policy choices. A budget promise is not a completed service; older figures retain their reporting period. Proposed options and indicators below are for public discussion, not adopted government commitments.

Contested choiceA regional priority with choices about delivery and fairness

Which interventions create sustained, fairly paid work rather than only training enrolments?14

Updated 2026-10-13 · Version 1 · Sources · Change history

Question 1 What is the issue, and why does it matter?

In the last full labour force survey (2017/18), unemployment in Province 1 (now Koshi) was 10.2 per cent and labour force participation 37.8 per cent, close to the national 11.4 and 38.5 per cent.1

The choice is how to improve outcomes in this province, who benefits first, and which institution can act. The figures below belong to the stated reporting period; they are not a real-time measure of today’s conditions.

Question 2 What do current law and policy say?

Agriculture and livestock development, factories and industrialisation are provincial powers (Schedule 6, item 20); agriculture and animal husbandry, agro-product management and agricultural extension are local powers (Schedule 8, items 15 and 18); agriculture is concurrent for all three levels (Schedule 9, item 4).2

Provincial executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chief of Province (governor) performs constitutional and legal functions, generally on the Council’s recommendation and consent; the governor is not the department delivering these services. Provincial revenue and expenditure estimates go to the Provincial Assembly.3

Question 3 What is known, uncertain or disputed?

Known

In the last full labour force survey (2017/18), unemployment in Province 1 (now Koshi) was 10.2 per cent and labour force participation 37.8 per cent, close to the national 11.4 and 38.5 per cent.1

The Labour Ministry reports that Koshi and Madhesh are the two largest sources of workers going abroad: each received more than 100,000 new labour approvals in both 2022/23 and 2023/24, and each accounts for more than a fifth of the total. Jhapa and Morang are among the top five origin districts and lead for women workers. Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa recorded the highest numbers of deaths among women migrant workers in the report's years.4

The same report says households in Koshi, Gandaki and Bagmati received the largest average amount per remitter, over Rs 240,000.4

Uncertain

A province-wide number does not identify the worst-served wards or prove the same problem in every municipality. Before spending, establish a current local baseline, service quality, staffing, access barriers and the full operating cost.

Disputed

The policy choice is how to balance universal access, concentrated investment, affordability and fiscal sustainability. The alternatives below are Policy Nepal’s discussion options derived from the problem evidence, not claims that officials or parties have endorsed them.

Questions 4–5 What are the options, and what do they cost and achieve?

Options are listed in no particular order. Policy Nepal does not recommend one; real policies often combine them.

Tie skills support to verified demand14

Ask employers and worker groups which occupations have vacancies, then fund paid placements and independently checked job retention.

Benefits
  • Connects training to work and makes employers share delivery responsibility.
Costs
  • Placement supervision, worker protection and follow-up cost money beyond classroom fees.
Trade-offs
  • Performance payments can exclude harder-to-place applicants unless inclusion is built into the contract.
What does implementation require?
  • Publish wage and safety conditions, recruit transparently, and check retention and earnings with workers after placement.

Remove business bottlenecks and support returnees14

Improve licensing, market access, reliable local infrastructure and advice for returnees before expanding untargeted grants or subsidised loans.

Benefits
  • Supports existing firms and self-employment as well as new businesses.
Costs
  • Needs capable advisory staff, market information and transparent beneficiary records.
Trade-offs
  • Credit can become a household debt burden when there is no viable market.
What does implementation require?
  • Use business survival, net earnings and additional jobs as measures; separate new migrants, repeat permits, returnees and people working in India.

Combining options

Start with a verified baseline and maintenance of functioning services, then test additional investment against the same outcomes. Publish who pays for capital costs, recurring costs and any household charges; an unfunded operating plan is not a sustainable solution.

Question 6 Who is responsible?

Shared
Farming and agro-processing

Agriculture and livestock development, factories and industrialisation are provincial powers (Schedule 6, item 20); agriculture and animal husbandry, agro-product management and agricultural extension are local powers (Schedule 8, items 15 and 18); agriculture is concurrent for all three levels (Schedule 9, item 4).2

Provincial
Chief Minister, Council of Ministers and Provincial Assembly

Provincial executive power rests with the Council of Ministers. The Chief of Province (governor) performs constitutional and legal functions, generally on the Council’s recommendation and consent; the governor is not the department delivering these services. Provincial revenue and expenditure estimates go to the Provincial Assembly.3

Question 7 What have parties and leaders said and done?

What was said or promised is shown apart from what was recorded as done. Every entry needs a dated source. A missing entry means the position is not established, not that someone opposes or is neutral.

This dossier presents official evidence and research options. It does not assign a position to a chief minister, governor, mayor or political party without a dated source specific to this issue.

Said or promised

Position not established in reviewed sources.

Recorded actions and outcomes

Position not established in reviewed sources.

Question 8 What would progress look like, and when do we check again?

IndicatorLatest official figureOfficial targetRevisit
Employment retained after placement, with earnings and safety conditions14 Not established No official target found 2026-10-20
Business survival and net additional jobs among supported firms14 Not established No official target found 2026-10-20

Sources

Grouped by type of evidence. Government plans show what government intends; they are not proof of results. Party material shows what a party says.

Constitution & law

  1. The Constitution of Nepal (English translation, incl. first and second amendments), Schedules 5–9 — Nepal Law Commission, Government of Nepal, Gazette publication 20 September 2015 (2072/06/03); amended 2016 and 2020. Schedule 5 (federal powers), pp. 193–195; Schedule 6 (provincial powers), pp. 196–197; Schedule 7 (federal–provincial concurrent powers), pp. 198–199; Schedule 8 (local powers), pp. 200–201; Schedule 9 (concurrent powers of all three levels), p. 202. Item numbers are given in each statement that cites this source.. Checked 2026-10-11
  2. Constitution of Nepal, English translation with first and second amendments — Nepal Law Commission. Articles 162, 166, 207–208; Schedules 6–9. English translation; Nepali text authoritative.. Checked 2026-10-13

Official data

  1. Report on the Nepal Labour Force Survey 2017/18 — Central Bureau of Statistics (now National Statistics Office), Government of Nepal, 2019. Table 3.3 (key labour market indicators by sex and province: Province 1 unemployment 10.2%, LFPR 37.8%; Province 2 20.1%, 39.7%; Province 3 7.0%, 47.1%), p. 13 (PDF p. 35). Checked 2026-10-11
  2. Nepal Labour Migration Report 2024 — Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Government of Nepal, 2025; covers FY 2022/23 and 2023/24. Executive summary, pp. xiv–xv (Koshi and Madhesh over 100,000 new approvals each in both years; top origin districts; deaths by province and district; remittance per remitter by province); section 3.3 'Provinces and Districts of Origin', pp. 25–26 (each of Koshi and Madhesh more than a fifth of the total; Madhesh highest for men; Bagmati highest for women; women from Madhesh about 5% of female migrants). Checked 2026-10-11
Change history
  1. 2026-10-13 — Expanded the province challenge into the same eight-question format as national issues. (Regional issues deserve equally accessible evidence, options, responsibilities and tracking. Original dates and sources retained; policy options are editorial proposals.)