‘Complaints against overseas recruiters to be monitored’

PANAJI - Complaints against illegal recruiting agents that have been gathering dust with the police department for years will be monitored by a high level committee, state NRI Affairs Commissioner Eduardo Faleiro said Friday.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Panaji, Faleiro, a former union minister of state for external affairs, also said that an ‘emergency repatriation fund’ was being set up to help people, who have been duped by such agents and are in distress in foreign countries.

“The committee headed by me will meet every two months to monitor progress in the complaints filed against such illegal recruiting agents,” Faleiro said.

“We (NRI affairs cell) receive so many complaints about such agents every month. Many complaints are also filed by the police, but we do not know what happens. There are no convictions,” Faleiro said.

The senior Congressman claimed that several semi-skilled labourers in Goa fall prey to such illegal recruiting agents, who promise jobs in the Middle East for a hefty fee.

“But when the person reaches the destination country, he is either jobless or is given a job that is not of his choice or that pays a lot less than the one promised,” Faleiro said.

To effectively handle such issues, an ‘emergency repatriation fund’ is in the process of being formed, Faleiro said.

“The fund will extend financial assistance in the most deserving cases of repatriation of Goan workers when they and their families are not in a position to meet the expenses,” Faleiro said, adding that a print and television media awareness campaign was also on the cards to warn job seekers about illegal recruiters.

Vice Admiral (retd) John C D’Silva, who heads the overseas employment agency that functions under the state government’s NRI affairs cell, said that the department was also monitoring advertisements in newspaper released by fraudulent recruitment agents, who are not registered with the Protector General of Emigrants.

The Protector General of Emigrants is a central government agency which is the registering authority for overseas recruiters.