Kerala: Nurses recruitment becomes costly

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Centre has revoked its earlier decision not to collect the service charges from nurses for overseas recruitment through state-run agencies, including Norka-Roots and Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants in Kerala.

A new order of the Ministry of External Affairs says the government sector recruiting agencies could collect a service charge of up to Rs 20,000. In May 2015, the centre had issued orders that no service charge should be collected from them and the recruitment expenses should be met by the foreign employer. However, many foreign employers were not willing to bear the costs which forced the Centre to issue the order on April 27.

The Centre, however, refused to make any further relaxations in the procedures introduced last year, even as the Protector General of Emigrants reportedly informed the Delhi High Court last month that procedures would be reviewed as the recruitment of nurses came down drastically.

Instead, it only issued a clarification on its order issued last year making emigration clearance mandatory for overseas recruitment of nurses to 18 ‘Emigration Clearance Required’ countries and even restricting the recruitments only through three government agencies.

The order says any registered recruiting firms  in the country could hire nurses to the 18 countries subject to issuance of a 'country specific' order by the competent authority of the foreign country. The clarification order also said that only the Saudi health ministry had so far issued a country specific order by exercising the option