200,000 Nepali Workers Return Home from India for Dashain via Nepalgunj Border

Kathmandu. Over 200,000 Nepali workers who had gone to various cities in India for employment have returned home through the Jamunaha border in Nepalgunj to celebrate the Dashain festival. As Dashain approaches, the flow of Nepalis returning from India has significantly increased.

Inspector Upendra Bahadur Budathoki, the head of the Area Police Office in Jamunaha, reports that from September 17 to October 8, 235,556 Nepalis crossed the Jamunaha border to return home for the festival. "Every morning, we see long queues of Nepalis returning from India at the Jamunaha border. There are more people returning home than going to India at the moment,” said Budathoki. He added that ever since the start of the 'Sohra Shraddha' period, the number of workers returning from India has surged, with the busiest hours being between 7 AM and 11 AM.

The number of Nepalis travelling to India for work has reduced recently. In the last 22 days, around 250,000 people entered Nepal, while only 165,281 left via the Jamunaha border. To assist the returning Nepali workers, a passenger help desk has been set up at the border in coordination with the district traffic police. Additionally, Nepal Police have launched an awareness campaign to protect returning workers from being cheated by rickshaw drivers, e-rickshaw operators, buses, vans, and hotel businesses.

The lack of employment opportunities in Nepal, coupled with low wages and inadequate healthcare, has pushed many from Lumbini and Karnali provinces to seek jobs in India. People from districts like Surkhet, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Salyan, Rukum, Rolpa, and Pyuthan regularly go to India for work.