(a) the proper steps taken by the Ministry to check the fraud in the name of providing jobs abroad and torture of youth by the fake institution;
(b) the steps taken to provide immediate assistance by the Indian Embassies to the Indian citizens who become the victims of forgery in foreign country;
(c) whether the Ministry has made arrangement of online mechanism to bring improvement in this area; and
(d) if so, the action taken by the Ministry against forgery and fake institutions ?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD)]
(a) to (c) Complaints are received from time to time by the Ministry of External Affairs from Indian emigrants or their relatives who are dispatched for overseas employment fraudulently by illegal agents/ fake agencies and are thereafter subjected to cheating, denial of jobs, poor working conditions etc. The Ministry of External Affairs, (MEA) has a robust grievance redressal mechanism including MADAD and e-Migrate portals for online registration of grievances of emigrants who have been subjected to cheating.
On receipt of details of such illegal agents, received upon reporting by the victims or their relatives and family who do so, the complaints are forwarded to the concerned State/UT Government and Police authorities urging them to apprehend illegal agents and prosecute them. On receiving request from the concerned State Government/Police authorities, Prosecution Sanction are issued expeditiously by the Ministry of External Affairs, enabling them to initiate legal action against the accused illegal agents. Wherever required, such complaints are also referred to Mission/Posts abroad for providing relief/rescue.
Government of India has revised the guidelines of the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) in the Indian Missions to enable Indian Missions to meet contingency expenditure incurred by them for carrying out various on-site welfare activities for overseas Indian Citizens who are in distress, on a means tested basis.
(d) As per the available records, the number of complaints against unregistered agents received and referred to the State Government/Police during the period of 2016-2018 is as under:
<pre>
Year
No. of Complaints
Cases referred to State Governments for action
Prosecution Sanction sought by State Government
Prosecution Sanction issued by Ministry of External Affairs
2016
231
231
42
42
2017
446
446
30
30
2018
350
350
15
15
</pre>
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