By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter
The recent decision of the Indian federal government to make all future recruitment of nurses from the country only through the Norka Roots and the Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants (Odepec), both governmental agencies of the southern Indian state of Kerala, has led to mixed reactions from the nurses and community members.
A majority of the nurses employed both in the government institutions and in the private sector across the GCC states, including Qatar, are mainly from Kerala. The nursing professionals from the Indian state reportedly constitute about 10% at the global level, it is understood.
The Indian government last week announced that it would communicate its decision to the Central Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that employers from abroad, including GCC states, would be able to recruit nursing personnel only with the ministry's concurrence or approval in future. The decision was taken in the wake of reports of massive corruption in the recruitment of nurses to a GCC state (not Qatar). A number of agents, mainly from Kerala, were arrested and detained in that Gulf state.
There were reports in Indian newspapers recently of some recruitment agencies collecting as much as Rs2.5mn (approximately QR150,000) from nurses for jobs in the Gulf states. This was corroborated by Kerala’s Minister for Non-Resident Keralites Affairs K C Joseph in a TV talk show.
While many feel the latest federal government decision on recruitment could bring some improvement, some fear that the development could lead to more corrupt practices as the two agencies chosen by the federal government have on board representatives of political parties .
Norka Roots is a company of the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (Norka) that came into being in 2002 and the nearly four-decade old Odepec is also a government-run company, constituted with the aim of recruiting personnel from Kerala, mainly for the requirements of the GCC states.
While Norka Roots has no history of conducting any recruitment drive , Odepec's track record is far from impressive. "While we have absolutely no doubt about the credentials of the permanent directors on the board of Norka Roots, who are all resourceful and well-known individuals from among the NRIs in the Gulf region, the same cannot be said about those nominated by politicians," said a representative of a Kerala forum.
Some Indian nurses feel political nominees on the board of the two companies would demand bribes from the candidates. “While the latest Indian government decision appears to be good and is indeed a big relief, nothing can be predicted about the new development at this juncture as there are chances that political nominees of the select agencies could mar the system,” said a long-time Doha resident.
Speaking to this newspaper from Sudan where he is on a business visit, Norka Roots vice-chairman and Doha resident C K Menon said Norka would try to ensure 100% transparency in all future recruitment of the nurses.
"We would recommend to the Gulf governments to send their representatives whenever interviews for mass recruitment of nurses take place in future. If their own representatives are present at the interviews there will be no room for any manipulations whatsoever," Menon said, adding, "a representative of the embassy concerned could also be present at the interviews, if required."
