: Stepping up its protest against overseas agencies conducting medical screening of candidates applying for semi and unskilled jobs in Kuwait, Kerala Manpower Exporters Association has urged the Government of Kuwait to act against agencies levying unreasonable medical test fees from candidates.
In a statement issued here, the association said the issue cropped up after the rights to conduct medical screening of job applicants to Kuwait were transferred from the Gulf Approved Medical Centre Association (GAMCA) to Khadamat Integrated Solutions Pvt Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait’s Public Service Company.
While GAMCA used to collect Rs 3,600 from each candidate as medical test charges, the fee has now gone up to Rs 24,000 per candidate, they said. Further, if Kerala alone boasted 15 offices for medical screening of job-seekers to Kuwait in the past, candidates from Kerala are now forced to go to Delhi or Mumbai for the screening — which will pile on the misery of a vast majority of candidates looking to land jobs as labours, carpenters, helpers, masons, welders and electricians.
Khadamat’s Kochi and Hyderabad offices had to be closed down after they failed to produce before law-enforcing agencies authorisation documents from the Kuwait government, they alleged.
