These are the only six government-run recruitment agencies through which Indian nurses can be hired in Kuwait

The Indian Embassy in Kuwait has said that Indian nurses who want to work in Kuwait can be hired for employment only through government-run recruitment agencies. The embassy said this in a statement after a few private hospitals in the Middle-Eastern country "made enquiries" about the process. 

Also read: Indian workers most exploited in Gulf countries: Govt data

Indian workers are often known to fall prey to exploitative tactics of recruiters and employers in the gulf countries. According to government data released in August last year, the Indian missions in these countries received thousands of complaints of exploitation from Indian workers who expatriated to these countries. The number was 11,103 for the three-year period in Kuwait. 

'Restricted since May 2015'

The Indian embassy in Kuwait, in a statement released on Monday, April 9, said: "It is reiterated that to streamline the recruitment of Indian nurses for work in Kuwait, the government of India has restricted since May 2015 the recruitment of nurses through a few designated state-run recruiting agencies and placed nurses under the 'ECR' [Emigration Check Required] regime so that emigration clearance through E-Migrate becomes mandatory for them for any employment in any of the 18 ECR countries (including Kuwait)."

It also gave the names of the only six government-run recruitment agencies, through which Indian nurses can be hired to work in Kuwait. Two of them are in Kerala, and one each in Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The agencies are: 

1. Non-Resident Keralites Affairs Department (NORKA-ROOTS), NORKA CENTRE, Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala; E-mail: mail@norkaroots.net ; Tel: 0091-471-2330530

2. Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants Ltd (ODEPC), TC 27/741(3), Ambalathumukku, Vanchiyoor PO, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala; E-mail: odepc@sify.com; Tel: 0091-471-2576314

3. Overseas Manpower Corporation Limited (OMCL), No 42, Alandur Road, Thiru-vi-ka Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu; E-mail: overmcl@gmail.com; Tel: 0091-44-22505886, 22502267, 22500417

4. Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation, Government of Uttar Pradesh (UPFC), 14/88, Civil Lines, Kanpur-208001; Phone: EPABX: +91-512-2530041-44 Fax:+91-512-2530073, +91-512-2533743; E-mail: headoffice@upfcindia.com, upfcknp@dataone.in

5. Telangana Overseas Manpower Company (TOMCOM), Govt of Telangana, Govt IT Campus, Vijaya Nagar Colony, Masabtank, Hyderabad-500057; Tel: 0091-40-23221705; E-mail: tomcommd@gmail.com

6. The Overseas Manpower Company of Andhra Pradesh (OMCAP), ITI Campus, Vijayawada (OMCAP), Krishna (Dist), Andhra Pradesh -520008; Tel/Fax: 0091-866-2484948; Email: omcapl@gmail.com