August 24: There is a general understanding that Nepali migrant workers in India send large amount of money back home every year.

India has been a prime destination for Nepalese workers since a long time due to its close proximity, open border and similar culture.

In the mean time, Nepal is also a major labour destination for Indian workers. In fact, the salary that Indian labourers earn in Nepal and take back home is three times more than what the Nepali labourers earn in India. 

According to the World Bank’s Bilateral Remittance Matrix, Nepali workers in India had sent remittance worth Rs 102 billion in 2017 while the Indian workers sent home Rs 302 billion from Nepal in the same year. Nepal is one of the top ten destinations for India to earn remittance.

The remittance Nepal receives from Indian also includes the salary of 35,000 serving Gurkha soldiers and pensions of 180,000 retired soldiers, which amount to Rs 72.57 billion annually. If this amount is deducted from the total remittance, the amount sent by other Nepalis stands at around Rs 29 billion.

Meanwhile, Nepal is a lucrative destination for Indian workers who are from the states that share border with Nepal. As the average income in Nepal is much better than that in India, the workers of India find the Nepali labour market quite attractive, according to the employers.

The number of Indian workers is quite considerable in the industrial corridor near the border areas. According to the Nepali industrialists, more than 1 million Indian workers are employed in Nepal. Lots of labourers from India are found working in brick kilns, jute mills and cement factories.

Besides industries, Indian workers are also employed by gold dealers of Nepal. According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, more than 75 percent of goldsmiths in Nepal are from India. They take home around Rs 20 billion each year, says Tej Ratna Shakya, former chairman of the federation.

Meanwhile, the government of Nepal does not have any data about the exact number of Indian migrant workers working in Nepal. As the Indians do not require work permit to work in Nepal, the government does not have the required data.

“Although high ranking workers from India take work permit from the Government of Nepal to show the source of their income, there are only a handful of them. On the other hand, lots of Indians working at the lower level do not take any permission for work,” says Sundar Shrestha, chief of the Birgunj office of Labour and Employment Department.

Government officials say it is not mandatory for Indian nationals to obtain work permit in Nepal as guaranteed by the  Nepal-India Peace and Friendship Treaty 1950.