Tightening noose over mushrooming immigration firms uphill task for govt
KARNAL: Amid lack of strict laws to put a check on the ever-growing immigration firms, it remains a challenge for the authorities as well as young aspirants to filter out the authentic from fraudulent ones among these.
So far, the Haryana chief minister’s flying squad has booked 35 immigration agents in Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Yamunanagar districts last week, following directions of the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj for action against travel agents. However, there has been no arrest so far.
A senior police officer on condition of anonymity said that they cannot take action against anybody until they get a complaint and there is no law to put a check on these agents, following which this, business is on the rise.
Talking to Hindustan Times, CM flying squad superintendent of police (SP) (crime) Dheeraj Setia said, “Under this special drive, we have booked 35 agents so far who had sent people abroad illegally, but again, we can act only if we have a complaint against an agent.”
Talking about what action was taken to check the increasing number of agents, he said, “We have taken action as per the information from the Union government as 70 people from Haryana were among 400 people arrested in USA, following which, the Union minister had issued directions for action against these agents.”
An official in the district administration said that they did not have any record of these agents but as per information collected by HT, over 500 travel agents are working actively in Kurukshetra, Karnal, Yamunanagar and Kaithal districts.
Also, they work under a network and arrange visas with the help of other agents settled in big cities like Chandigarh, Delhi and Mumbai, the official said, adding, that these agents have also set up English speaking coaching centres and provide training for IELTS to attract the youth interested in going abroad.
“This is a rich business, as most youth are passionate to go abroad at any cost. They don’t even hesitate in selling their ancestral land to fulfil their dreams and these agents take advantage of this,” said Harnek Singh, director of Chetanya Career Consultants in Ladwa of Kurukshetra district.
He said that there should be stricter laws to monitor these agents, who easily earn ₹12-15 lakh from a person.
Even in November last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court had issued directions to police in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh to verify whether all such agencies were registered, but nothing was done on the ground.
“This is true that there is no record of these agents and we react only on complaints filed against them, but I don’t think that in Karnal, these agents are registered,” said Karnal SP Surender Bhoria.
‘STUDY VISA HELPS GIRLS TO GET SUITABLE MATCH’
Some immigration agents said the number of girls applying for study visa of Australia and Canada was much higher than the boys as the girls are able to score well in IELTS exam.
“With the girls getting good scores in IELTS, it becomes easier for them to get their husbands abroad on couple visa, hence their parents prefer to send them at these coaching centres, as they think that this will help their daughter find a good match abroad,” said visa consultant Mukesh Kumar of Kurukshetra, who also runs a cyber cafe.
“Every day about 50-100 people come to me to apply for passport and 90% of them are girls,” he added.
SO FAR, HARYANA CM’S FLYING SQUAD HAS BOOKED 35 IMMIGRATION AGENTS, HOWEVER, THERE HAS BEEN NO ARREST SO FAR