Chandy urges Centre to simplify eMigrate system

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday urged the Union Minister for External Affairs Sushama Swaraj to simplify foreign employer registration procedure under the recently introduced the eMigrate system for recruitment of nurses.

In a memorandum to the Union Minister, the Chief Minister said that Health ministries from none of the countries with emigration clearance requirement had positively responded to the new system even though some discussions have been initiated by the Indian Missions and Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs with officials in Kuwait, KSA and Oman.

However, response from the foreign employers was comparatively poor. The procedural/ technical delay in the eMigrate system was a major obstacle in recruiting the nurses from India. This has in turn resulted in the diversion of employment opportunities of Indian nurses to other countries such as Philippines, Sri Lanka and Egypt. Though the decision of Government was to protect the nurses, the enforcement of emigration clearance restriction and the recruitment through Government agencies have adversely affected the employment opportunities of the nurses.

As per the revised procedure the overseas employers intending to employ Indian nurses have to register with eMigrate system of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs which would be vetted by the Indian Missions in the respective countries. Only on approval of the foreign employer by the Indian Mission in the concerned country, the Foreign employer is permitted to raise demand through the eMigrate system to the MOIA authorized recruitment agencies in India, like NORKA-ROOTS.

The Chief Minister urged the Union Minister to instruct the Indian Mission for the speedy approval of the foreign employer registration within the stipulated time. Besides, eMigrate system should be simplified in such a way that, if the foreign employer is the Ministry of Health or allied Government Departments in the host country, relaxations may be given and the Government departments may be exempted from obtaining approval from the Indian Mission for Foreign Employer registration.

He also called for stringent legal action to prevent malpractices and exploitations in overseas recruitment. Until the emigration system becomes fully operational, emigration clearance may be given for those nurses recruited directly by the foreign employers. Instruction may be given to the Protector of Emigrants to this effect.

Merger of ministries
Mr. Chandy urged Ms. Swaraj to withdraw the decision of the Government of India to merge the Ministry of Overseas Indian affairs with the Ministry of External Affairs.

The merger, he said, will adversely affect the interest of the overseas Indians as the Ministry had been taking several proactive measures for overseas Indians including insurance and pension schemes.

He also expressed his concern in the decision to suspend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations which was the flagship programme of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.