Lok Sabha Question No. 1036 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-08
Subject: Fake Job Offers
Ministry: EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Debasree Chaudhuri, Jayadev Galla

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

ANSWERED ON- 08/12/2023

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1036

## FAKE JOB OFFERS

## 1036.   MS. DEBASREE CHAUDHURI SHRI JAYADEV GALLA

Will the Minister of EXTERNAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state :-

(a) whether the Government has taken note of the issue of fake/fraudulent companies/agencies offering fake job offers / employment in foreign countries to Indian citizens in the recent past;

(b) if so, the details regarding the total number of such agencies identified over the last four years in the country, State-wise including Andhra Pradesh;

(c) whether the Ministry has issued caution to Indian nationals through media and other modes about fake job offers being floated in social media;

(d) whether the Government has undertaken any action against such companies/agencies, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(e) the total number of such fake agencies/companies that have been shut down by the Government during the last four years in the country, State-wise; and

(f) whether the government intends to introduce any scheme/initiative for regulating and reducing the number of such agencies / companies, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

## (SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN)

(a & b) It has been noticed that several unscrupulous agents/travel agencies are illegally involved in the business of manpower recruitment for overseas employment. Information about illegal agents is uploaded and updated on regular basis on the eMigrate Portal. As on 30 October 2023, 2925 illegal agents have been notified through eMigrate portal. Details of State-wise numbers of such illegal agents notified till date, including from Andhra Pradesh, are enclosed as Annexure A.

(c to e) Ministry keeps issuing advisories, media briefings and tweets about fake job rackets from time to time. Such communications are also issued by concerned Indian Missions/Posts abroad through their websites, social media handles and through the print media. The Ministry through Indian Missions/Posts abroad, takes pro-active measures to rescue Indian nationals trapped in foreign countries whenever such cases come to the notice of the Ministry.

As and when complaints of illegal migration/human trafficking are received, such matters are referred to the State police for investigation and prosecution. Details of complaints received and forwarded to state police for action and investigation, requests received from state governments for

issue of prosecution sanction and the prosecution sanctions issued during the last three years are as under:

| Year                 |   No. of complaints |   Cases referred to state governments for action |   Prosecution sanctions sought |   Prosecution sanctions issued |
|----------------------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 2020                 |                 166 |                                              166 |                              7 |                              7 |
| 2021                 |                 139 |                                              139 |                              7 |                              7 |
| 2022                 |                 297 |                                              297 |                             11 |                             11 |
| 2023 (till November) |                  80 |                                               77 |                             15 |                             15 |

(f) Under Chapter III Section 10 of the Emigration Act 1983, no persons/agencies can function as recruiting agent without a valid certificate issued by the registering authority. For application of registration by persons/agencies, the application has to be made in prescribed form and provide details such as financial soundness, trustworthiness, premises at which applicant intends to carry on his or her business. Registration of recruitment agencies is mandatory, with an aim to reduce fraud and exploitation of Indian workers recruited to work overseas. The Act imposed a requirement of obtaining Emigration Clearance (also called POE clearance) from the office of the Protector of Emigrants (POE). Registration of Recruitment Agents/Agencies and accreditation of Foreign Employers is scrutinized by Protector General of Emigrants through 14 POEs offices located across the country and our Missions abroad, respectively. This requirement applies only for ECR passport holders traveling to 18 Emigration Check Required countries.

*****

State-wise count of illegal agents

(as per data available till 30 October 2023)

| Sr. No.   | State             |   Count |
|-----------|-------------------|---------|
| 1         | Delhi             |     292 |
| 2         | Punjab            |     190 |
| 3         | Tamil Nadu        |     360 |
| 4         | Maharashtra       |     309 |
| 5         | Uttar Pradesh     |     400 |
| 6         | Andhra Pradesh    |     471 |
| 7         | Kerala            |     189 |
| 8         | Telangana         |     113 |
| 9         | Haryana           |      35 |
| 10        | Gujrat            |      56 |
| 11        | West Bengal       |     127 |
| 12        | Karnataka         |      80 |
| 13        | Rajasthan         |      61 |
| 14        | Bihar             |      54 |
| 15        | Madhya Pradesh    |      16 |
| 16        | Puducherry        |       6 |
| 17        | Uttarakhand       |      13 |
| 18        | Goa               |      13 |
| 19        | Himachal Pradesh  |      10 |
| 20        | Jammu and Kashmir |      11 |
| 21        | Chandigarh        |      31 |
| 22        | Odisha            |      11 |
| 23        | Chattishgarh      |       4 |
| 24        | Assam             |      60 |
| 25        | Jharkhand         |       5 |
| 26        | Tripura           |       7 |
| 27        | Nagaland          |       1 |
| Total     | Total             |    2925 |

*****

## Annexure A