Kathmandu, February 27:

Awareness among people through media and their peers has prevented a large number of foreign job aspirants from being cheated by manpower companies.

“Fraud by manpower companies has decreased these days compared to the previous years,” said Dr Ganesh Gurung, a foreign employment expert. He said that the people going abroad for employment seek suggestions from their peers who are aware of the local manpower agencies and the media have also played a vital role in informing people about foreign employment.

He said most of the fraud cases occur through individual agents. “Most of the young foreign job-seekers from remote areas depend upon individual agents and get cheated,” said Gurung.

According to statistics of the Department of Labour and Employment Promotion (DoLEP), the total number of complaints of cheating against the manpower agencies dropped to 236 during the first seven months of the current fiscal year from 329 in the previous year. The complaints against individuals also marginally declined to 207 from 213 during the same period.

Keshar Bahadur Baniya, director general at DoLEP, said: “If any complaint is lodged at the department, the accused is summoned and if the accused fails to appear, a seven-day notice is served. And if the accused fails to respond the summon again, a three-day notice is served, calling him/her to appear before the DoLEP.”

He added, “If they don’t respond the two notices, another 24-hour notice is served. And finally, a public notice is published in a national daily newspaper asking the accused to appear within 10 days at DoLEP. If the accused company still fails to appear, all its transactions will be halted.”

In case of individuals, a police warrant is issued after all the documents thoroughly analysed, and the accused is kept in the custody for 30 days for further investigation.