After weeks of tension, employees of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) have finally returned to work. This comes after the Ministry of Finance assured that there will be no cuts to their benefits and facilities.
The ministry and the protesting employees held talks where both sides reached an understanding. A committee will now be formed to review the ministry’s earlier directives. The employees decided to end their 48-day-long protest following this commitment.
The conflict began when the Finance Ministry ordered the cancellation of SEBON’s Employee Welfare Fund Procedure (2014) and Employee Protection Fund Procedure (2018). The ministry had argued that these rules were against existing laws and instructed that any past payments made through these funds should be recovered as government dues.
During the discussion led by Finance Ministry official Uttarkumar Khatri, employees were promised that the rules would be revised instead of scrapped, and no reduction in employee benefits would take place. The ministry also pledged to move forward based on the committee’s findings.
With these assurances, SEBON staff agreed to resume their duties, ending nearly seven weeks of strike that had disrupted work at the securities regulator.
