The government is planning to ban seven medical centres providing medical check up facility to migrant workers.

"We are banning them as they are not registered to medical check up of migrant workers," said Minister for Labour and Transport Management Mohammed Istiyad Rai.

Ministry of Labour and Transport Management is consulting with Ministry of Health and Population in their involvement in medical check up of migrant workers,” he said.

Nepal Health Professional Federation, an umbrella organisation of 179 medical centres, has been lobbying against Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) approved medical centers to stop their service since 2009 questioning their legal status. "GCC is appointing medical centres without consulting the government,” said president of the organisation Khadag Bahadur Shrestha. According to him, recent visit of Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Nepal Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Busairi has accepted their demand to revoke seven medical centres from GCC medical list. "We explained him the legal ground of them and he immediately stopped their service," he said, adding that they are now not in operation. He urged the government to remove them from GCC list or the association will go on strike. “We have given ultimatum to solve the issue within August 18,” he said, adding that government sho-uld write GCC to revoke license as they are not registered under Foreign Employment Act.”

Published on: 8 August 2011 | The Himalayan Times