UAE | General

'We want to stop workers from falling into a quagmire of debt'

The government of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is seeking to eliminate unscrupulous agencies that exploit gullible jobseekers, said a senior official from India.

  • By Nagarjuna Rao, Pages Editor
  • Published: 00:01 April 2, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Satish Chandra, Managing Director of the Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh.
  • Image Credit: Nagarjuna Rao/Gulf News

Dubai: The government of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is seeking to eliminate unscrupulous agencies that exploit gullible jobseekers, said a senior official from India.

"Thousands of unemployed youth in the state fall prey to these agents who charge them exorbitantly for their services.

"They are forced to take loans from local money lenders at high rates of interest which they are unable to repay with the kind of salaries they get," Satish Chandra, Commissioner of Labour, Employment and Training, told Gulf News in an exclusive interview.

Chandra, who is the Managing Director of the Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh (Omcap), a training and recruiting agency launched by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2006, said the state government's initiative has paid off with more than 400 trained workers procuring jobs so far in Malaysia, Hong Kong and the United States.

Cost free

Chandra is in Dubai to meet industry leaders in labour intensive sectors such as construction, retailing and hospitality to explore ways to extend the agency's services to the Gulf.

"The purpose of our visit is to tell employers in the UAE and other states in the region that ours is a government company and whatever skilled manpower you need we will provide, that too, at our cost," said Chandra.

"Our aim is to ensure placement abroad is cost-free. We don't charge anything from the candidates. So whatever salary they get, they can save and remit some back home after meeting their expenses.

"If they go through unauthorised and unscrupulous placement agencies they are forced to take huge amounts in loans from illegal lending channels or local moneylenders at high rates of interest and fall into a quagmire of debt," said Chandra.

Omcap assists jobseekers by enhancing their employability through training programmes all over the state and in getting passports, visas and air tickets and occupational certificates to quicken the emigration process.

They are also given training in skills such as better communication and work ethics as well as social customs and laws of the land.

"We have a strong network of self-help groups in every village who help us in identifying the young unemployed people for training in trades of their choice," said Chandra. "Our agency has been instrumental in helping thousands of them get jobs," he added.

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