Thaindian News

Panaji, Sep 12 (IANS) The Goa government has formed a high level committee to protect aspirants seeking jobs abroad from being duped by fake agents.

The committee will be headed by Goa’s Commissioner for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) affairs Eduardo Faleiro and will include the inspector general of police, the special secretary (Home) and district collectors.

The committee will keep tabs on dubious travel agents and job recruiters, who will be listed on a specially compiled rogues gallery as a deterrent, Faleiro told reporters here Monday.

“The committee will consider complaints against recruiting agents who operate illegally or who dupe persons with the promise of providing them with jobs abroad,” Faleiro said.

Goa has a large expatriate population working mainly in the oil rich Middle East region as well as on board cruise liners and in the merchant navy. This makes job-seekers desperate to go abroad vulnerable targets to rogue job recruiting agents who charge anywhere upwards of Rs.50,000 to Rs.2 lakh for a job abroad.

“An advertisement has already been issued in the print media informing that complaints on such matters should be submitted in writing and duly supported by documentary evidence if any,” said Faleiro, a former union minister of state for external affairs.

Faleiro’s NRI commission, which deals with issues concerning
non-resident Goans settled across the globe, is already in the process of compiling a blacklist of agents suspected to be dubious.

The commission is in the process of compiling an exhaustive list, but a low rate of conviction in criminal cases involving fraud travel agents is a dampener, according to Faleiro.

“The commission is creating this blacklist of agents and job recruiters because in 184 criminal cases filed by aggrieved and duped complainants against such persons have resulted only in 17 convictions,” Faleiro said.

“One of the main reasons for the low rate of convictions is incomplete and careless police investigation. A committee will now be constituted for protection of emigrants and for dealing with unscrupulous recruiting agents,” Faleiro added.

“We will also be launching a campaign to sensitise the general public about the risk of irregular migration. The list of rogue blacklisted agents will be made available to the public so that they do not fail prey to such rackets,” he further said.