BRS seeks probe into TOMCOM’s overseas job promises

Hyderabad: BRSLP Deputy Leader T Harish Rao on Sunday alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s government had turned the state-owned Telangana Overseas Manpower Company (TOMCOM) into a racket that exploited unemployed youth in the name of jobs in Germany.

Harish Rao alleged that Rs 4.10 lakh was collected from each candidate from 70 to 75 youths across 15 districts. The amount reportedly came to nearly Rs 4.5 lakh per candidate after adding examination, insurance and visa costs. More than two years later, not one of the 24 candidates who spoke to the media could name a German employer who had interviewed them, he claimed.

He said poor farming families had spent three years’ income, pledged the gold of their mothers and wives, and borrowed money on which they were still paying interest, trusting the government’s promise of overseas employment.

According to Harish Rao, candidates who cleared the B1 German language examination were subsequently told to clear the B2 level. Meanwhile, the programme’s publicity material had announced that nine candidates were “all set to fly to Germany”. However, none of them travelled to Germany, he alleged.

The agreement candidates were made to sign required disputes to be settled in a court in Lucknow, more than 1,000 km away, he said.

Harish Rao further alleged that RTI queries seeking TOMCOM’s actual placement figures had not been answered even after the statutory deadline. As recently as June this year, Labour Minister Vivek Venkat Swamy inaugurated a fresh TOMCOM batch and promised jobs while these 70 families were still waiting, he said.

Questioning the Congress government’s promise of two lakh jobs, Harish Rao asked, “Where is the job calendar?”

He demanded a full refund of every rupee collected by TOMCOM and Fairstreet India, compensation for the two years lost, the interest burden and mental agony, and alternative employment for every affected candidate. He also sought an immediate CID or judicial probe, criminal cases against those responsible, and a white paper detailing the fees collected against actual overseas placements. “The BRS party will stand with these families until every rupee is returned and those responsible are held to account,” Rao said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K Chandrasekhar

[email protected]