By Manjima Dhakal

Kathmandu, Feb. 22: The government aims to minimise the human resources engaged in agriculture sector by 50 per cent and double the human resources in the industry and service sectors by 2043.
The government will decrease the human resources in agriculture sector by mechanizing agriculture.
According to a report of Human Resource and Manpower Projection Development Fixation Taskforce formed by the government, now, 64.79 per cent population of the country engages in agriculture and it will be brought down to 32. 15 per cent in the next 25 years.
Dr. Rudra Suwal, coordinator of the taskforce, said although a larger population have now taken agriculture as their main occupation in the country, the productivity of the sector is poor. “The productivity can be increased by using highly advanced technology, modern methods and seeds,” he said.
According to the report, now 13.81 per cent people have been in the industry sector which will be increased to 24.16 per cent in the next 25 years. Likewise, the human resource in service sector will increase to 43.69 per cent in 2043 from existing 21.40 per cent.
The report suggested a micro level change in school education and higher education of the country to prepare the required manpower.
Dr. Balchandra Luitel, educationist, said the government must develop strong strategic plans for effective implementation of the projection. Productivity of agriculture sector could be increased only by mechanising it, he added.
The Ministry of Education Science and Technology has released only a synopsis of the report. The full report was submitted to the Prime Minister about six months ago, but it has not been made public yet, coordinator Suwal said.
“We are surprised why the report was not made public for a long time although it was a good report for public debate by making it public,” Suwal further said.
According to Suwal, the full report has included the current figures of human resources in specific sectors and their future need. Likewise, it has also suggested methods for the implementation of the projection, he said.
The taskforce has prepared the projection applying a rule-based method, intrapolation, extrapolation, trend projection, econometric method based on International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) and International to Standard Classification of Occupation (ISCO).
The line Ministry of the taskforce is the Ministry for Education, Science and Technology and Minister Giriraj Mani Pokharel was the chairperson of the taskforce while vice-chairperson of National Planning Commission (NPC) Prof. Dr. Pushparaj Kandel was co-chairperson.
Member of NPC Dr. Usha Jha and secretaries of the different ministries, including the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Population, Ministry of Physical Planning and Transportation, Ministry of Energy and Irrigation and other were members in the taskforce.