Kerala protector of emigrants arrested in nursing job fraud case

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid investigations into the nursing jobs scam in Kerala, the Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested the Protector of Emigrants (PoE), Adolphus Lawrence, for his alleged complicity in the scandal.

It is a stark irony that the PoE, whose role is to protect Indian emigrants abroad has himself been booked on charges of colluding with a private operator to defraud Indian job seekers.

His arrest is linked to alleged favours he did for the Kochi-based Al Zarafa Travel and Manpower Consultants, owned by one Uthup Varghese.

The consultants had a mandate to recruit nurses for Kuwait from Kerala, and they were allowed to collect Rs19,500 (Dh1,114) as commission from each nurse. However, it is alleged that the recruiting agency tampered with the conditions mentioned in the contract, and duped the nurses into paying Rs1.95 million (Dh111,428) each, a hundred times what was permitted.

The investigating agency is on the lookout for Varghese, who is believed to be abroad. The Kerala High Court had turned down his plea for anticipatory bail in the recruitment fraud case.

It is not clear how many nurses have been conned into paying the substantially higher commission to get jobs, but local media estimates put the amount collected by the manpower consultants at over Rs2 billion. Lawrence is accused of taking a commission and colluding with the recruiting agency.

The investigating agency says Lawrence had knowledge of the activities of the recruiting agency. A search by the investigating agency at Al Zarafa’s office had yielded large sums of money and several documents. The office of PoE comes under the federal government. The CBI is expected to interrogate the PoE for additional information.

While on the trail of Al Zarafa’s case, the CBI has also found that similar fraud was being perpetrated by at least one more agency in Kerala. More information on similar recruitment scams is likely to surface over the coming weeks.

Nurses from Kerala based abroad say their remuneration and perks in Kerala and other states in India are a pittance, forcing them to seek jobs overseas. Many of them take up jobs abroad at the considerable social cost of having to be away from their spouses and children.