Significant numbers of Nepali men were employed in the Indian Army through the 1950s and 1960s, and recruitment to the Indian police and other services, including the civil service, augmented the total of those employed in the public sector in India. Towards the end of the 1990s, some 250,000 Nepalis were employed in India's public sector, of whom perhaps 50,000 were in the army.
According to research in 1997 by the Nepal Institute for Development Studies — the first systematic look at Nepali foreign labor migration — as many as 750,000 men and women were working in India's private sector. Most were engaged in manual labor jobs in industry, construction work, agriculture, or the service sector. Their wages tended to be low and the work was often dirty, dangerous, and even degrading. For example, some 100,000 to 150,000 Nepali women are estimated (by many sources, but with little empirical evidence) to be employed in the sex industry across India.
Although average earnings are low and individual remittances relatively small, the aggregate value of money sent (or brought) back to Nepal from India has been substantial — probably between 25 and 30 billion Nepalese rupees (NRs), or about US$450 million to US$500 million, in the mid-1990s according to a study by Seddon, Adhikari, and Gurung.
Foreign Labor Migration as Private Enterprise
With the approval of the Labor Act of 1985, the government of Nepal officially recognized the potential value of foreign labor migration "overseas," meaning beyond the Indian subcontinent. The government has done little since then to develop a coherent labor export policy or to provide any kind of training or support packages. The trade unions in Nepal are finally beginning to show an interest in overseas workers.
Foreign labor migration from Nepal is still largely a privately organized affair in which individuals make use of their own personal networks or make arrangements through a number of private, government-registered manpower or recruitment agencies. From the late 1980s onwards, Nepalis began to migrate in significant numbers eastwards to Southeast Asia and the Far East and, from the mid-1990s onwards, westwards to the Gulf countries.
According to research in 2002 by the Nepal Institute for Development Studies for the women's fund at the United Nations (UNIFEM), approximately 170,000 or more Nepalis were in East and Southeast Asia, with nearly 36,000 in Europe and over 10,000 in North America. However, the Gulf countries by this time had eclipsed Asian destinations; over 465,000 Nepalis were working in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
The majority of women migrant workers beyond India were in two countries — Hong Kong (44 percent) and Japan (9 percent) — with 56.5 percent in East and Southeast Asia. The remainder were in the UK (12 percent), the US (9 percent), Australia (6 percent), Bahrain (4 percent), and other countries. Most of them were working as domestics or in other areas of the service sector.
According to research in 1997 by the Nepal Institute for Development Studies — the first systematic look at Nepali foreign labor migration — as many as 750,000 men and women were working in India's private sector. Most were engaged in manual labor jobs in industry, construction work, agriculture, or the service sector. Their wages tended to be low and the work was often dirty, dangerous, and even degrading. For example, some 100,000 to 150,000 Nepali women are estimated (by many sources, but with little empirical evidence) to be employed in the sex industry across India.
Although average earnings are low and individual remittances relatively small, the aggregate value of money sent (or brought) back to Nepal from India has been substantial — probably between 25 and 30 billion Nepalese rupees (NRs), or about US$450 million to US$500 million, in the mid-1990s according to a study by Seddon, Adhikari, and Gurung.
Foreign Labor Migration as Private Enterprise
With the approval of the Labor Act of 1985, the government of Nepal officially recognized the potential value of foreign labor migration "overseas," meaning beyond the Indian subcontinent. The government has done little since then to develop a coherent labor export policy or to provide any kind of training or support packages. The trade unions in Nepal are finally beginning to show an interest in overseas workers.
Foreign labor migration from Nepal is still largely a privately organized affair in which individuals make use of their own personal networks or make arrangements through a number of private, government-registered manpower or recruitment agencies. From the late 1980s onwards, Nepalis began to migrate in significant numbers eastwards to Southeast Asia and the Far East and, from the mid-1990s onwards, westwards to the Gulf countries.
According to research in 2002 by the Nepal Institute for Development Studies for the women's fund at the United Nations (UNIFEM), approximately 170,000 or more Nepalis were in East and Southeast Asia, with nearly 36,000 in Europe and over 10,000 in North America. However, the Gulf countries by this time had eclipsed Asian destinations; over 465,000 Nepalis were working in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
The majority of women migrant workers beyond India were in two countries — Hong Kong (44 percent) and Japan (9 percent) — with 56.5 percent in East and Southeast Asia. The remainder were in the UK (12 percent), the US (9 percent), Australia (6 percent), Bahrain (4 percent), and other countries. Most of them were working as domestics or in other areas of the service sector.
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