SRIKAKULAM: After returning from abroad, migrant workers of Srikakulam turn into professional job brokers. As they are aware of the conditions of the job, they waste no time in becoming as mediators between job consultancies and job seekers.
These mediators or brokers trap unemployed youth, especially gullible ones, by promising them seaman and other lucrative jobs abroad. When unable to get the promised job, the brokers fleece them and engage them in a job fraught with risk.
For instance, Baggu Ramana, who went to Visakhapatnam-based SKD marine job consultancy, has himself to blame for the condition he is in today. The broker provided Ramana a job on a Iran-based ship, involved in smuggling drugs. The Egyptian Coast Guard arrested him and a lower court in Egypt sentenced him to death. He was arrested in December 2016.
B Ramu from Meghavaram was similarly deceived by a job broker. Ramu paid Karnam Venkateswara Rao Rs 4.7 lakh and when the broker couldn’t provide the job Ramu sought, he returned the money in the form of a cheque. When Ramu presented the cheque at the bank, it bounced. Meanwhile, Rao quickly shifted to Mumbai.
A job broker from Santabommali mandal said 10 brokers are dealing with seaman and foreign jobs in Santabommali, Tekkali and Vajrapukotturu mandals. The brokers send around 20 youth to various foreign countries every month in consultation with job consultancies located in Visakhapatnam, Mumbai and other cities. For their efforts, the job brokers charge Rs 1 lakh from each candidate. Speaking to TNIE, district Superintendent of Police (SP) RN Ammireddy said, “The police have been creating public awareness, especially in rural and coastal areas of the district.”