Saturday, March 5 2005 19:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kochi: In an effort to regulate and monitor those wishing to go abroad, Union Government was planning to bring in an electronic immigration clearance card by May 1, Union Minister of State for Overseas Indians, Jagdish Tytler, today (Mar 5, 2005) said.

The card would be valid for two to five years, Tytler told reporters in Kochi. The Minister said many untrained people, who go outside the country in search of jobs, are treated shabbily by their employers. The condition of such workers was 'pathetic'.

Such electronic cards would help Government to know where they are, he said adding professionals like doctors also would have to possess the cards.

To provide legal assistance to Indians in distress in the Gulf, Government was also planning to form a group of Dubai-based lawyers. The group would provide assistance to job-seekers who have been dumped in foreign lands by unscrupulous agents.

The Centre would do everything it can to help those languishing in prisons in the Gulf, he said.

Earlier, the Minister inaugurated the NORKA-SCMA Institute of Paramedical and Development studies at nearby Kalamassery.

Speaking on the occasion, he said Government would give license to those who have proper infrastructure facilities and proper syllabi, to set up similar institutes elsewhere.

The licences of those recruiting agents, who have not sent anyone abroad for the past 10 years, would be cancelled, he said.