: Offices of the Protector of Emigrants (PoE) will be the hub of recruitment of Indian nurses seeking overseas employment, with the Union government making emigration clearance mandatory for nurses in 18 countries from next month.
Nurses seeking employment to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Malaysia, Libya, Jordan, Yemen, North Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Syria. Lebanon, Thailand, and Iraq will be permitted to go abroad after April 30 only if they get emigration clearance.
At present, emigration clearance is mandatory for those who have not passed SSLC and women seeking employment abroad as domestic help, cooks, and nursing assistants and below 30 years. They have to produce embassy-attested documents to get emigration clearance from the PoE.
The nurses should produce embassy-attested document of the labour contract to get the emigration clearance from the PoE. This document is first attested by the Ministries of Labour and Emigration of these countries. Official sources said the PoE will issue the clearance that day itself if the papers are in order.
Many nurses who have got job offers through recruiting agents and have cleared the interview are trying to leave the country before April 30 to avoid seeking clearance from the PoE.
Along with this, the government has designated the NoRKA-Roots and the Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants (ODEPC) as the sole agent for recruiting Indian nurses overseas.
As 90 per cent of the nurses seeking employment abroad are from Kerala, the PoE offices will have heavy workload.
Of the 9 PoE offices functioning under the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in the country, two are in Kerala and are located in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi with jurisdiction over the entire State.
It is learnt that the nurses will not have to directly proceed to the PoE offices in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi as the NoRKA-Roots and ODEPC will take care of the emigration clearance. This will also help to keep tabs on middlemen and agents.
