Open House: What steps should the government take to check rising cases of immigration frauds?
Stricter laws needed to check frauds
The foremost step the state government should take to keep a check on fraud immigration agencies is to make it compulsory for immigration agents to obtain licences issued by a competent authority for starting their businesses. A licensing authority-type entity should be formed in this regard which should be authorised to check the veracity and credentials of all immigration agents and licences should be issued only after the authorities are fully satisfied. Even laws should be made stricter to deal with fraudulent agents. A few months after the issuance of licences and starting of business by agents, the authorities should make it compulsory for agents to make websites of their business. The websites should furnish all information of services offered by immigration agents and the number of people sent abroad by them, including their names and addresses in foreign countries where they had sent people from India. This information on every website will go a long way in revealing whether the immigration agents are genuine or a fraud.
Sanjay Chawla
Longer jail terms need of the hour
Cases of fake travel agents cheating gullible youth have been on the rise for the past few years. First, the government should make it compulsory for all travel agents to procure a valid licence from the government before starting this type of business. The government should verify all credentials relating to genuineness and only after that it should issue licences to travel agents who wish to start their own business. Secondly, punishments for violating the laws concerning this business should be made stricter. The government should levy huge penalties (in the shape of money) and longer jail sentences to fake travel agents. Besides, awareness must be raised among youth to pay money only to those travel agents who had previously sent youth to foreign countries. A candidate should first verify the authenticity of travel agents by demanding email IDs and contact numbers of the youth already sent by them to foreign countries. They should rely on travel agents only after getting a positive response from the candidates (sent abroad) on their email IDs or phone.
Rohit Kumar Sehdev
Verify Credentials of every visa provider
There has been a rise in the number of crooked immigration visa providers, that’s why a large number of gullible people are falling prey to deceitful immigration consultants. These days every third youth is nurturing a dream of settling in foreign countries which is possible if they find a job and permanent residency. In their desperation to land in foreign countries, they fail to verify the credentials of immigration agents. Before initiating the process of getting visa, transparency standards involved in the visa issuance process must be followed. To keep a check on fake agencies, the government should keep a vigil on fraudulent agencies and impose high penalties or punishments which would act as a deterrent. Besides, the government should urge the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi not to accept any student and visitor application without authorisation or verification. We often witness that desperation to go abroad forces youngsters to make wrong choices. Besides the government, it is the duty of aspirants to crosscheck the credentials of the consultants they have approached. The recent disclosure of Jalandhar-based fraudulent travel agents had been termed as ‘a biggest visa scam’ by the Punjab Government, which must alert new aspirants.
Sammy Cheema
raise awareness among youngsters
The Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) brochures, available free of cost, used to box their caution on the title page itself that there is no syllabus for it and that no coaching or training at this stage will make any substantial difference in their scores. It is a test of acquisition. Lack of awareness of this crucial linguistic fact is what drives the English Language Teaching (ELT) industry these days under different names. A reasonable skill in spoken English or writing doesn’t come overnight or through lectures. Ignorant aspirants who can’t fill even a railway reservation form face the challenging task of completing the pro forma of a visa application. The ignorance and unrealistic ambition of the aspiring applicant who do not have any interest in any particular course of studies abroad and who is not likely to come back to India, wants only a well-paying job whether in Australia, Canada or elsewhere. He is exploited by unscrupulous agents who charge lakhs of rupees and then disappear. The candidate is pushed into some illegally run ‘college’ abroad on the strength of false scores and left to fend for himself when caught by the authorities and deported. The huge publicity ads for holding seminars for helping genuine candidates are good business, but they are also used by illegal agents who somehow angle for their own fish. Good news is that the genuine agents are now registered with the government and candidates nowadays either apply directly online or approach the registered agents. Besides, the state government is floating more jobs for school graduates and if the trend continues, the exodus of youngsters will subside.
Prof Mohan Singh
Appoint nodal agency to handle visa cases
There have been numerous reports of aspirants willing to settle abroad being duped of lakhs of rupees by fake immigration agents. Owing to scarce employment opportunities here, most of the youngsters are running after agents who arrange their departure to developed countries through whatever means. The craze among youth goes unabated despite running the risk of losing the huge hard-earned money of their parents. Some of them arrange money by pledging/selling properties of their parents for meeting hefty expenses. Apart from petty workers, the exodus of professionals for better remunerations and a large number of students under the garb of overseas studies is continuing, whereas our own colleges and universities are yelling for bare minimum admissions. Almost in every city, IETLS/TOEFL centres have mushroomed with their attractive advertisements appearing on media channels with alluring immigration services. The offices of travel agents, many of whom are without registration, remain crowded with young boys and girls for visa consultancy or to migrate to countries like Canada, the US, Australia, the UK, Europe, etc, without any perusal of their prospectus there. Such unscrupulous agents are seldom booked due to the lack of regulatory framework. Obviously, there is a crying need to check the loopholes and regulate the process of immigration strictly. Cases of unskilled workers and domestic maid helpers being treated as bonded labour in some countries have also come to light, which calls for serious action as it lends disgrace to our nation’s pride. To avoid exploitation of innocent people, further growth of fake travel agencies must be stopped by designating a nodal agency to streamline the whole process. While youth is the greatest asset of the country, efforts must be made to fulfil their aspirations within the country. For the purpose, we must improve our systems and upgrade infrastructure so that our citizens lead a quality life and do not fall prey to dubious agents, indulging in heinous crimes. Developing advanced learning skill centres with full focus on job-intensive courses is required so that our youth is gainfully absorbed within the country, offering satisfying careers.
Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath
Police must keep a watch on consultants
The lust for dollars and going abroad for a better future has really forced people to go abroad by hook or by crook. In some cases, if a person’s visa is rejected, he/she tries to go abroad by any means which sometimes forces aspirants to pay more by any means and then they are sent abroad through different routes by adopting different strategies by immigration agencies. In Punjab, when we see a neighbour’s son, settled abroad, sending money to his parents in India, other youngsters are motivated to go abroad. The study/education visa offers a golden opportunity to students to go abroad. At present, crores of rupees are are spent on going abroad through education. There are already top colleges/universities in India for education, but the main objective is to go abroad after Plus Two for securing PR (Permanent Residency). Youth fail to understand that if they put in half of the efforts made to go abroad to earn money, they can earn a lot of money here. Even though the government is getting tough on the immigration agencies, many still cheat youth. Sometimes people take agents’ words for it and try their luck for visa, but fall a prey to them. Cases of fraud are not new, these were also reported in the past. It is now up to the Deputy Collectors and the Police Commissioners to keep a check on the immigration agencies.
Rajt Kumar Mohindru
Create jobs by inviting industry investment
It is disheartening to note that for the last three decades, successive governments in Punjab have failed to take any substantial step toward industrial development or creating jobs for its growing population. Agriculture too has become unsustainable. This has led to mass migration of people to foreign countries in search of a better life. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous immigration agencies or their touts have been exploiting gullible people, which has become a cause for concern and requires urgent attention. To address this issue, the state government has implemented the Punjab Travel Professionals Regulation Act, 2014, along with the Emigration Act of 1983 and the IPC provisions. The Punjab Police also conduct awareness campaigns from time to time. Therefore, it is the duty of the Punjab Government to take sincere steps to provide a better future to its people here. For this, the state government must invite investment in various industries such as agro-based food processing, cotton textile, hosiery, and readymade garments, sugar, paper, paperboard, and ethanol, IT, ITES, and semi-conductor, sports and surgical, sewing machines, bicycles, bikes, automobiles, and their parts, etc. Promoting non-farm activities, the private services sector and filling vacancies in government offices can also be a positive step in this direction. The Punjab Government can achieve this by withdrawing unnecessary freebies, ensuring an uninterrupted power supply, and creating a congenial environment for private investment with a strong political will.
Kulwant Singh Phull
panchayats, police must act together
These days, youth are tempted to go abroad by hook or by crook. When he or she learns from NRIs about the living standards of people and their handsome salaries, they adopt wrong ways to go abroad. There are many unauthorised agents who are looting the hard-earned money of the parents of aspirants. They show a rosy picture to boys or girls by saying that they have sent many people abroad who are earning lakhs of rupees per month. They loot lakhs of rupees from them. After grabbing lakhs of rupees from them, they do not send them abroad, sometimes they change their addresses. There are many laws to prevent fraud, but they are not working properly. Many people are robbed by agents. The state government should set guidelines to stop the looting of agents. A list should be published of those agents who are authorised by the state government. The panchayat of villages and state police should be involved to prevent fraud. The panchayats have a list of authorised agents. They can also guide youth and their parents. The state police should be directed that if a case of fraud comes up, they should take quick action against the culprits. The state government should start a campaign to inform the public about unauthorised agents, how agents fool innocent people, how they prevent themselves, and how the victims can complain against the culprits.
Sucha Singh Sagar
Better employment opportunities needed
As we know that there is a craze among people to go abroad. Jobs should be given here so that people do not go abroad. The government should provide better education and good health facilities to young people. Create employment opportunities for youth so that they don’t have to migrate to other countries for education and jobs. Strict action should be taken against fraudulent agents. A list should be published of authorised agents. New jobs should be created for youth. If youth still want to go abroad, then a law should be prepared for them.
Rajbir Kaur Jangla
Set up separate dept to check fraud cases
First of all, people should understand that there is no benefit in migrating abroad, but what would people do if they do not find any work in Punjab? That’s why, they go to other countries, giving Rs 35 or Rs 40 lakh to agents. But agents cheat aspirants of their money. The Punjab Government should either provide jobs to people or employ them in a company. The state government should establish a department that must check if agents are authorised. The police department should be more vigilant. If there is a case of fraud, it should be taken seriously and action must be taken against fraudsters immediately.
Subhkarman Kaur
Take action against agents sans licence
Most immigration consultants in Punjab are themselves unemployed. They do not have any skills and have opened shops near bus stands just to entice rural youths by projecting fake dreams of jobs abroad. They charge a huge amount of money from poor job seekers. Strict action should be taken against those immigration consultants who do not have a proper licence. No doubt, youth of Punjab need employment and Punjab being a border state of the country does not have employment opportunities like other states have to offer. The government should bring more private investment into the state so that more employment opportunities can be created in the state. More job-oriented courses should be created in border areas. Above all, all immigration consultants should have proper licences which should be displayed outside their offices, only then youth should approach them.
Harvinder Singh Chugh
QUESTION
The floods have not only taken a heavy toll on human lives but also destroyed properties of people. What steps should the government take to check the floods in future?
Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to amritsardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (Aug 24).
