Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has urged the Ministry of External Affairs for follow up action on the government order restricting the overseas recruitment of Indian nurses to government-run agencies.
In a letter to Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, he said the travel of Indian nurses appointed to ECR (Emigration Check Required) countries had been completely stopped since emigration clearance was made compulsory from April 30. This, he said, had created a situation for other countries to capitalise on.
“Of the 18 ECR countries, only the Kuwait government has initiated action for recruitment of nurses through government agencies,” he pointed out.
Mr. Chandy urged the Union Ministry to issue orders for emigration clearance to the nurses who had obtained legal job visa to work in ECR countries, except Kuwait, till recruitments were started through government agencies.
He called for blacklisting the agencies involved in the recruitment scams, especially to Kuwait.
Mr. Chandy also appealed to Ms. Swaraj to request the Indian embassies in all ECR countries to initiate a dialogue with the respective governments as done by the Indian Mission in Kuwait.
Rehabilitation
Special Correspondent writes from Pathanamthitta: The government should take immediate steps to rehabilitate nurses who returned from the war-torn Yemen, Indian Nurses Parents Association State chairperson M.V. Cherian has said. Mr. Cherian was inaugurating a meeting of repatriates from Yemen held at the Prathibha College auditorium here on Friday. The INPA leader said the government should also take a decision on the lost certificates, passports, and other documents belonging to the repatriates from Yemen on an emergency basis.
