Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has observed that the entire Nepali society has entered a new age by incorporating all classes of people.
Prime Minister made this observation while initiating the First Social Security Day and Contribution-based Social Security Scheme at a special function organized in the Capital Tuesday.
On the occasion, he asserted that the state was not only a controlling institution providing security in good and bad times and appropriate remuneration doe work but also a guardian of its citizens.
While recalling that he had announced to implement a social security policy for all and with the participation of all when he became the prime minister for the first time, he said, “It was us when we were running a minority government for the first time that a new system of social security was started through the Senior Citizens Security Program. That was not the kind of program meant to last only for one fiscal year brought by the government led by one single party for one term. It was but a beginning of a social security system that would be continued once initiated.”
PM Oli said that when the then government started the Old-age Allowance Scheme, it was derided by the opposition that the government was becoming distributive, populist and draining the state treasury by crossing the fiscal discipline.
“Many people did not comprehend it while many others took it as a communist program of authoritarianism. Still many others acted as if they did not understand it while actually doing so,” he said.
He went on to say that efforts had been made to reform the system giving 'respect' and 'financial security' to the people in the government services and ignoring the people working in other sectors.
Respect to labor, encouragement to all to get involved in labor and building of a modern civilized society based on unity and cooperation remain as the spirit of new social security system which according to him is not targeted to any specific group, but to all, either they are working class people or not, youths or aged, healthy or ill, earning people of not.
The Prime Minister further claimed that the objective of the formation of the incumbent government was for building the nation and bringing positive change in the society and it was committed to ensuring future of working class people.
He said he wanted to reply those seeking the presence of the government that it was among the working class people. He insisted on the need of sowing the seeds of hope and dream among the people to beat frustrations and materializing such dreams once reaching to the power. The social security program was announced despite difficulty and it also served as the message that social just was in the nation and state would protect its citizen.
According to PM Oli, the concept of 'Golden 1000 days', a period between a woman's pregnancy and her child's second birthday and launching it as a public awareness drive for improved nutrition of children and women in Nepal was launched in his leadership.
The PM added that campaign such as conservation of tigers, safe motherhood services and 'Education for All' were the extension of the Golden 1000 days concept.
Stating that the Social Security Plan was launched on the basis of social partnership, PM Oli asserted," Social Security is neither a donation nor a saving. It is a system based on commitment. Social Security porgram would incur no economic loss to the State coffer."
According to him, the social security could cover white-colored and blue-colored as well as self-employed people. "The Social Security Plan launched from today will be focused on the employment for the wage-labor and self-employment," he said.
PM Oli was of the confidence that the Social Security Program consisting four security schemes for the wage-laborers would encourage both the workers and employers.
"This plan addresses both the aspirations for higher wages of the working class people and the desire for high productivity of the industrialists and business community. The laborers who seek ‘security’ and the employers who seek ‘liberal labor conditions’ have a sweet meeting at this point,” he said.
