Nepal will sign a labour agreement with Qatar within six months to protect its 80,000 workers from being exploited, a Nepalese official said here yesterday.

The Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) is discussing the final details of an agreement proposal to be submitted to the Qatari authorities, under which the country would enact stringent immigration procedures for Nepalese to fight illegal recruitment agencies.

Nepalese would also be granted a social-security scheme as well as the opportunity to take professional courses to upgrade their skills.

"We hope to sign the deal with the Qatari Government within six months," Dr Upendra Mahato, president of the NRNA told Gulf News.

"The agreement would improve the conditions of the Nepali community since it envisages a series of joint initiatives between the two countries not only to improve recruitment procedures but also to provide professional training before immigration to the Gulf."

Speaking at the end of a three-day regional meeting of the NRNA in Doha, Dr Mahato said the body, a think-tank representing about 1.5 million Nepalese around the world, will also ask Qatar Airways and other Gulf carriers to reduce the cost of tickets between Nepal and Gulf countries.

"A return ticket to Nepal costs as much as four months salary for a low-income worker," he said. "We shall ask airlines to make their fares more accessible."

A labour agreement between the two countries has been expected for some time by the Nepalese community here.

According to the Doha based Nepalese Foreign Employment Promotion Team (FEPT), a body helping Nepalese in distress, at least 10 per cent of the 80,000 Nepalese in Qatar suffer some kind of abuse at the hands of their sponsors.

Every day, FEPT receives two to four reports of workers being abused by their sponsors. In its first three months of activities this past summer, about 500 workers reported their cases to FEPT.

The majority of the abused Nepalese are victims of the local manpower racket, said Dev Dangol, vice-president of the NRNA.

"We are proposing to the Qatari authorities to stop the visa racket by imposing stricter registration procedures for companies and brokers with visa quotas."

He said a mechanism should be put in place stipulating that the worker's visa must be endorsed by the Nepali Ministry of Labour as well as the embassy in Qatar.

This would ensure that the mission would have a record of the workers and sponsors as well as the manpower agencies.