DAO directs NAFEA to hold AGM by March 29

KATHMANDU:

The ongoing dispute regarding the leadership in the umbrella organisation of foreign employment agencies has taken a new turn. The District Administration Office (DAO), Kathmandu has directed the Nepal Association of Foreign Employment Agencies (NAFEA) to postpone its annual general meeting (AGM) slated for Friday.In a directive issued by DAO today, NAFEA has been asked to hold the AGM within March 29, 2015, in which it has been instructed to also elect new executive committee members.Three different associations of manpower agencies and 11 executive members of NAFEA, including Kumud Khanal, second vice president have been standing against NAFEA President, Hansa Raj Wagle, claiming that he has been lobbying for implementation of controversial biometric health test provision to send workers to Malaysia.Based on a decision of their meeting on February 6, the 11 disgruntled executive committee members had filed a complaint at the DAO to dismiss the executive committee under Wagle. They have already submitted the
ir mass resignation in the organisation.Three associations — Progressive Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs’ Forum (PFEEF), Nepal

Democratic Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs’ Forum and Nepal Foreign Employment Entrepreneurs Tamu Dhi — had also demanded a new election at the earliest seeking Wagle’s resignation.“After we realised that Wagle

has been lobbying for biometric system despite reservations from foreign employment agencies, we

submitted our resignations,” informed Khanal.He said that as the current executive committee now only comprises 10 members out of 21, any decision made by it holds no legal ground.Hari Bahadur Pandey Chhetri, president of PFEEF, said if NAFEA fails to hold the AGM within the time given by DAO and paves way for election, they would be forced to capture the office of the umbrella organisation as only 10 members cannot represent all 751 agencies.

Source: THT