Vigilance officials for immigration offices: Ravi

Monday, June 12th, 2006

Thiruvananthapuram - Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi Monday said all Protector of Emigrants (PoE) offices would have a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) official to help check immigration fraud.
‘We have already asked the CVC to work on this in the wake of the increasing frauds taking place in various PoE offices,’ Ravi told reporters here.
Ravi said a computerisation process would soon be implemented at airports for proper screening of all Indians going abroad, especially to the Middle East.
‘I and the home minister are meeting shortly to discuss this and we are also working on bringing amendments to the 1983 Emigration Act. The proposed Act would lay emphasis on transparency, regulation and deterrent punishment.
‘It would also have interventions to prevent the exploitation of workers and to eliminate human trafficking and smuggling of people by unscrupulous middlemen,’ said Ravi.
He also said steps were being taken in consultation with Indian ambassadors in Gulf Cooperation Council states, Jordan and Yemen to see that every employee contract was vetted by the respective countries before being sent to the people going there.
The minister also pointed out that steps were being taken to set up a People of Indian Origin University in India.
He said discussions had reached a crucial juncture with regard to the issuing of the People of Indian Origin card and the Overseas Indian Citizen Card.