Headlines
Put on hold new rule on nurses jobs abroad, Kerala tells Centre
Thiruvananthapuram, May 4
The Kerala
government has written to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to
put on hold the new order that requires all Indian nurses going to 18
countries for employment to take emigration clearance from the Protector
of Emigrants (POE).
"All those nurses who got a job after
reaching various airports were not allowed to go because they did not
have the clearance from the POE. So, we have written to the central
minister to ensure that status quo is maintained till the formalities
for the new order are taken care of," state Minister for Rural
Development K.C. Joseph told IANS.
As per the Centre's new
directive, starting May 1 all nurses' recruitment from India will be
done by the two Kerala-run organisations, which have offices across the
major metros in the country. And all nurses have to take emigration
clearance from the Protector of Emigrants (POE) before taking up the
jobs abroad.
"The directive of getting a clearance from POE, till
our system is in place, is causing hardships to new recruits. Hence,
we've asked the Centre to maintain status quo," added Joseph.
"There
are quite a few issues to be tackled before this is streamlined. Out of
the 18 countries for which our agencies have been selected for
recruitment, it's only with the government of Kuwait that we have
commenced talks. Very soon, a team of officials from Kuwait will be
visiting us to finalise the modalities of selection," said Joseph.
Starting
May 1, two-state agencies Overseas Development and Employment Promotion
Consultants (ODEPC) and Norka-Roots - the agency that looks after the
welfare of the Kerala diaspora - have been mandated by the Centre to
recruit Indian nurses to 18 countries, which includes all the
Middle-East countries.
"As per the new rule, all the 18 countries
where nurses' recruitment has to be conducted must first get in touch
with the Indian embassy in those countries and also provide the terms of
employment, Once that is cleared, then the Indian embassy will get in
touch with the Kerala government agencies. After the selection is done,
the nurses can have an easy passage by paying a nominal recruitment
fee," Joseph explained.
Once the system is in place, the nurses
would be required to pay around Rs.50,000 as recruitment fee. The
present rates charged by private recruitment agencies are in the range
from Rs.1.5 million to Rs.2 million.