Hassan institution caught in ‘placement racket’

It had promised to offer a job in Germany to an Indian national based in Bahrain

A Hassan-based institution is caught in a controversy in Bahrain for allegedly attempting to cheat a nursing professional there.

Hope India Foundation, based at B. Katihalli village, near Hassan, had assured the Indian national based in Bahrain a job in Germany and later sought a big amount in the name of registration fee and processing charges. Now, the German Embassy in Kuwait is said to have taken serious exception to this by commenting that the institution was selling a product which did not exist.

The issue came out on Friday, when

Daily Tribune , an English daily in Bahrain, carried a report with the headline ‘Fake firm preys on job seekers’. The report states that the foundation assured Lovena Philip, a nursing professional based at Salmabad in Bahrain, a post of staff nurse in a German hospital. She was asked to pay Rs. 90,000 in Indian currency before September 13 to register, besides Rs. 6 lakh as processing fee, which is meant to be paid at a later stage.

Following an advice by a relative, the applicant contacted the German Embassy in Kuwait to check if the foundation was authorised to recruit staff for German hospitals. The news report quoted the German Embassy’s Deputy Head of Mission in Bahrain, Holger Tillman, as saying that Germany was not allowed to recruit nurses and other medical professionals from developing countries and such recruitment was considered illegal. Mr. Tillman also said that the institution was selling a product which did not exist.

Idea dropped

Ms. Philip dropped the idea and did not pay the amount. The letters of correspondence between Baiju Joseph, founder of Hope India Foundation and Ms. Philip have been accessed by The Hindu . Mr. Joseph had asked her to transfer Rs. 90,000 to an account in the Hassan branch of Central Bank of India through NEFT.

In his website (hopeindiafoundation.com), Mr. Joseph claims that his organisation, which runs three nursing schools, also arranges placement in famous hospitals in India and abroad, especially in Germany and Italy.

Mr. Joseph refuted the allegations. “I too have received a letter from Bahrain regarding this incident. We are responding to it,” he told The Hindu . He argued that Germany had no restriction on recruiting Indians. Admitting that his organisation was not an agency recognised by German hospitals to recruit staff, he said, “Someone in Bahrain must have misunderstood us. We are only helping those looking for jobs in Germany. I have some contacts in Germany who will help our candidates,” he said.

He defended collecting the registration charge by saying that it was for conducting a weeklong German language class. “The amount will be returned if the candidate does not get a job,” he said.

He, however, had not spoken about returning the money to Ms. Philip when he had promised her a job.

His organisation began placement cell activities only six months ago and many had enquired about job opportunities in Germany. A few have paid the registration fee. So far, nobody had been sent to Germany from his organisation. On the processing fee, he said it would be collected by those helping the candidates in Germany.