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A quarter of people away from home

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?123

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

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

The NLSS found 24.9 per cent of the province's population absent from their households, the highest share of any province, and the 2021 census counted 343,523 people from the province abroad, from about 30 per cent of households. The provincial plan says too few jobs are being created, increasing reliance on foreign employment, and notes rapid migration from mountain and hill districts and unplanned settlement in the Tarai. Remittances and cross-border trade with India are named as important to the economy.123

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?

Federal: Customs, international trade and quarantine (Sch. 5 items 9, 18). Provincial: Intra-province trade; industry and business (Sch. 6 items 11, 20). Local: Local markets and business tax (Sch. 8 items 4, 10).4

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.5

Question 3 What is known, uncertain or disputed?

Known

The NLSS found 24.9 per cent of the province's population absent from their households, the highest share of any province, and the 2021 census counted 343,523 people from the province abroad, from about 30 per cent of households. The provincial plan says too few jobs are being created, increasing reliance on foreign employment, and notes rapid migration from mountain and hill districts and unplanned settlement in the Tarai. Remittances and cross-border trade with India are named as important to the economy.123

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 demand123

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 returnees123

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
Border trade and customs

Federal: Customs, international trade and quarantine (Sch. 5 items 9, 18). Provincial: Intra-province trade; industry and business (Sch. 6 items 11, 20). Local: Local markets and business tax (Sch. 8 items 4, 10).4

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.5

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 conditions123 Not established No official target found 2026-10-20
Business survival and net additional jobs among supported firms123 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, as amended by the Second Amendment, 2020), Schedules 4–9 — Nepal Law Commission, Government of Nepal, Promulgated 20 September 2015; amended 28 February 2016 and 18 June 2020 (as stated in the document). Schedule 4, list for 'Province No. 7', pp. 190–192; Schedule 5 (federal) items 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 34, pp. 193–195; Schedule 6 (provincial) items 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, pp. 196–197; Schedule 7 (federal–provincial concurrent) items 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 23, 25, pp. 198–199; Schedule 8 (local) items 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, pp. 200–201; Schedule 9 (all three levels) items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, p. 202. 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

Government plans & policy

  1. दोस्रो पञ्चवर्षीय योजना (आ.व. २०८३/८४–२०८७/८८) 'समुन्नत सुन्दर सुदूरपश्चिम' (Second Five-Year Plan) — Province Policy and Planning Commission, Sudurpashchim Province Government, 2083 BS (plan period 2083/84–2087/88). 1.3.1 (permanent capital Godawari, Kailali; currently in Dhangadhi), printed p. 4 (PDF p. 26); 1.3.5 economic sector (agriculture, remittances, cross-border trade with India; potential sectors; tourist sites incl. Shuklaphanta and Khaptad), printed p. 7 (PDF p. 29); infrastructure review 2077/78–2080/81 (water, roads, electricity, irrigation), printed p. 20 (PDF p. 42); main problems and challenges, printed p. 22 (PDF p. 44); 5.5.2 tourism situation, printed pp. 109–110 (PDF pp. 131–132); trade and supply situation incl. Chandani-Dodhara dry port, printed p. 125 (PDF p. 147); 7.5 energy (potential, major projects, 171 MW connected, 86.6% household access), printed pp. 236–237 (PDF pp. 258–259). Checked 2026-10-11

Official data

  1. Nepal Living Standards Survey IV 2022/23: Statistical Report — National Statistics Office, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal, June 2024. Table 6.1 'Literacy rates by sex', printed p. 98 (PDF p. 117); Table 9.1 'Distribution and Proportion of absentee population by sex', printed p. 152 (PDF p. 171); Table 16.8 'Remittance receiving households (Percent)', printed p. 279 (PDF p. 298). Checked 2026-10-11
  2. National Population and Housing Census 2021: National Report — National Statistics Office, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal, 2023 (reprint May 2023, as stated in the document). Major highlights, item 11 (provincial shares of population), printed p. 2; Table 14 (households with absentees and absent population living abroad, by province), printed p. 58 (PDF p. 73); Table 15 (households, population, average household size, sex ratio, density, 2011 population and annual growth rate, by province), printed p. 62 (PDF p. 77). 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.)