e-Migrate grounds blue-collar workers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The recruitment of low-profile job aspirants to Gulf countries like blue-collar workers has taken a beating with the centre mandating that all overseas recruitment of candidates in the Emigration Clearance Required (ECR) category should be made through the new e-Migrate system.

Following the new norms, the number of persons obtaining emigration clearance from the protectors of emigrants (PoEs) came down almost by half, sources in the sector said.

As per the fresh norms, to recruit candidates in the ECR category (those who have not passed SSLC), the foreign employers have to register on the e-Migrate portal and the work agreements should be produced at the Indian embassy of that country for verification.

Only after that, the details of the job will be made available on the e-Migrate system so that the protectors of emigrants could grant the clearance.

According to the sources, on an average, the PoE office in Thiruvananthapuram used to grant clearance to about 40 to 50 candidates daily until the fresh norms were introduced.

Now, it has come down to about 25 to 30. The situation is the same in all PoE offices across the country.

“All foreign employers need not take the pain of turning up at Indian embassies and produce documents for verification. Hence, the decline in recruitment. The state government should bring the matter to the notice of the centre," said Recruiting Agents Association of Kerala president B.Vivek.

Sources in the PoE office here said the present decline could be only a teething trouble. “Making all recruitments through e-Migrate could bring down the incidents of fleecing of candidates. We hope the foreign employers will adapt to the new system in the due course,” a PoE office source said.