In an attempt to prevent human trafficking and keep track of emigrants abroad, the Ministry for Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) has proposed that initial scrutiny of all applications for emigration be outsourced to an external agency.

Its rationale for hiring an agency is the heavy rush for emigration clearance—6.77 lakh for employment and 5.54 lakh with Emigration Clearance Required passport last year—which has resulted in “abnormal delay and poor quality of scrutiny of applications”.

“Due to the increasing workload, there is hardly any qualitative scrutiny of the applicant’s details. As a result, the recruiting agent is able to smuggle all types of cases for clearances,” the ministry has argued while proposing e-governance of the emigration process.

The ministry’s scheme is that the agency with a wide reach throughout the country would collect emigration applications online, scrutinise them before recommending them to the Protector of Emigrants (PoE) for approval.

“Ultimately, it is proposed to integrate this (online filing) with Indian missions, passport offices and immigration counters at airport. It is felt that such an integration is likely to eliminate many types of malpractices involved in the system,” says the proposal which highlights human trafficking and slave-like working conditions as the growing malaise.

A pilot project for online filing has been tested successfully at Delhi, but detailed guidelines for its expansion would be developed in consultation with the Home Ministry, National Informatics Centre and scheduled banks.

As for documents, these would be sent to the PoE through a selected courier with the onus on the collection agency to deliver the approved papers to the applicants within a given time. “Any delay shall invite heavy penalty,” says the ministry which expects the scheme to reduce travel by applicants who presently trudge to one of the eight PoE offices which have become “an instrument of harassment” for the emigrants.

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