Fake universities, employment most pressing issues for Indians living abroad: EAM Jaishankar
By Newsmeter Network Published on 13 March 2020 4:37 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Employment and fake universities are the most pressing issues faced by Indians living abroad, data by external affairs ministry has revealed.
In response to Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s question in Lok Sabha External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated that the ministry has received the highest number of grievances related to labor and employment.
The external affairs minister noted that students have reported about seven fake universities in the foreign countries since 2017. Latest being the University of Northern New Jersey and the University of Farmington in the USA.
Apart from that, instances of Indian students enrolling in two unauthorized universities came to the notice of the Indian Mission in UAE, in 2018.
Around 16 students complained to the Indian Mission in Switzerland in 2017-18 about Sevanan Business School. Complaints about Washington University of Barbados were received by the Indian Mission in Suriname after it was closed down in 2018. Complaints against Czech College was received by the Indian Mission in Prague in 2016-17.
The Ministry has launched a portal 'MADAD' in February 2015 wherein the NRI’s could register their grievances. Besides, a twitter handle @meaMADAD was also created in March 2017.
According to the data provided by the ministry, 38,642 tweets have been received so far on this handle. Of which 37,726 have been replied and the remaining 916 are pending or under process.
The Ministry has also established a multi-lingual 24X7 helpline --Pravasi Bharatiya Sahayata Kendra (PBSK) --which provides information, guidance, and grievance redressal on all issues and problems about overseas employment of Indian nationals.
The PBSK has been set up in different countries including Malaysia, UAE, and Saudi Arabia. It is headquartered in Delhi and works from various centers like Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Lucknow.
To address the issues of students, the ministry is planning to launch Global Indian Students Portal by the end of 2020-21, said external affairs minister Jaishankar.
