An emigrant's story

An emigrant's story
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

CHENNAI, DECEMBER 25: Chidambaram from Pudukottai district in Tamil Nadu has returned from Singapore a disillusioned man after a sojourn of just three months. His employer, Kim Kin, had gone back on the terms of the contract and refused boarding and lodging facilities to him. Instead, he had to live in a tiny room with 40 other workers in a bunk system. An unfortunate accident of a fellow Indian worker due to the negligence of the employers, which he witnessed, sounded his death knell.

He was hounded by the Singapore police to depose in the case but the employers were equally keen on sending him back to India. The passport, which is usually retained by the employer from the time the worker lands on the foreign shore, was also returned. Finally the police arranged for his stay minus the expenses. The worker deposed in the case and returned to India knee-deep in debts, which will take him years to repay.

To prevent such cases from recurring, the office of the Protector of Emigrants (POE) has been sending circulars to all hotels asking them to obtain prior permission from the POE, for holding overseas interviews in their premises, said P Balasubramanian. Till 1999, 15 illegal agents have been arrested, remanded and prosecution proceedings initiated. Police are alerted by the POE in case of dubious advertisements and the rights of workers are being continuously publicised in various media.

The POE also conducts public hearings every Tuesday and Friday, he said. A raid was conducted on a Bangalore based Software Company, Spore Consultancy in 1998. There were reported irregularities in its recruitment of software professionals for overseas assignments. A case was registered against the company. It appealed in the High Court of Karnataka to squash the charges on the grounds that the recruitment of software professionals was not in the purview of the Indian Emigration Act. The appeal was dismissed by the High Court in October 1999.