Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Youths, who have been unable to fly to South Korea despite securing visas under the Employment Permit System (EPS) due to the unavailability of flights, staged a protest at the EPS Office in Gwarko, Lalitpur, on Monday.
They organized a sit-in, stating that they have been unable to fly to job destinations despite securing a visa due to an anomaly in allocating flight tickets. They claim that only 25-30 tickets are issued at a time and that the travel agent was prioritizing those paying higher fares.
Kamal Raj Shrestha, an officer at the EPS Office, acknowledged the delay in securing tickets for workers who have already received visas. “This problem will now end as a fresh bidding for air tickets has been initiated to facilitate 1,500 youths awaiting flight tickets,” Shrestha added.
Bikas Ghimire of Jhapa, who received a visa in September, has still not been able to fly to his job destination. “I have been staying in Kathmandu waiting for the flight ticket for the past three months,” he added.
Universal Travels has won the contract to supply air tickets for Rs 54,991 for a one-way flight to Seoul.
