MEA: 998 illegal agencies offering jobs abroad; 29 are in Karnataka

BENGALURU: The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has flagged 998 illegal agencies recruiting people for jobs abroad from across the country. The list includes 29 agencies from Karnataka. The ministry has now asked state police to initiate action against them.
These agencies are not registered with MEA as required and some of them face charges of cheating aspirants.Victims of these agencies raised complaints with MEA, seeking action against them.

The list from the ministry has been shared with the regional protector of emigrants offices for further action. The same information will be shared with state police, who will carry out investigation. Delhi has 166 such firms, followed by Tamil Nadu (151) and Maharashtra (119).
A source the office of the protector of emigrants here said while operating without registration is illegal, many of the agencies have been found to be charging exorbitant rates from aspirants and cheating the public of several lakhs of rupees. Several FIRs have already been filed in different police stations across the country and with protector of emigrants offices.
The 29 firms in Karnataka have their office addresses in Bengaluru, Shivamogga, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Bhatkal and Belagavi. Some firms have addresses in other states, but their bank accounts are operational in Karnataka.
According to sources, foreign job frauds are seeing a rise in the state, especially in coastal areas where aspirants are being duped by some agencies. Most of the gullible are being cheated with UAE job offers and the agencies are collecting thousands of rupees. The agencies are supposed to offer technical support, healthcare and other jobs in Gulf countries, but they rarely do so.
The Covid-19 situation led to more instances of cheating as Indian healthcare workers are in demand globally. In Bengaluru, multiple FIRs were registered against firms which allegedly deceived job aspirants by taking huge sums of money.
Shubham Singh, protector of emigrants, Bengaluru told TOI that according to Section 10 of Emigration Act, 1983, no person can function as a recruiting agent without a valid certificate. “In Karnataka, the office has shared details with the director general of police’s office for further action. We are also looking into several complaints; the registered agencies can charge up to a maximum of Rs 30,000,” Singh said.
“We are investigating cases where unregistered companies are offering jobs abroad and cheating the public. At present, 33 authorised recruitment agencies are operating in the state,” he added.