Thousands of Indians have seen their job applications jeopardised by a new procedure that sidelines attestation agencies and makes it harder to process educational documents.
The new move by the Indian Government is not practical because it means people have to present documents in person in Delhi, a number of expatriates in the UAE said.
For many, it has caused delays and anxiety, especially among those who have lost job offers because of a delay in their documents being returned to them.
“I’ve already sent my educational certificate for attestation through an agent. I don’t think I will be able to find anyone back home to take the trouble of travelling to Delhi,” said Shah Nawaz, who comes from the southern state of Kerala, more than 1,000 kilometres from Delhi.
He said he desperately needs the attested certificate to save his job. “A certified educational certificate is a requirement for a job here. Now my job hangs on whether or not I get the certificate on time. If I don’t, I may lose my job,” he said.
It was essential for him to send his certificate through a licensed agency due to the time factor, he said.
The federal government, has introduced a new measure, effective October 4, sidelining all the attestation agencies. Only the applicant or a close relative can submit a document for attestation by the Human Resources Development Affairs bureau.
Nawaz said it is more convenient for people in the UAE to seek the services of these agencies to get their documents in India. “Though it is expensive, it is faster and hassle–free. There are people here and elsewhere in the world who do not have close relatives back home.”
He asked the government to authorise trusted agencies to do the jobs. “The government can have a watchful eye on these authorised agencies to ensure they do a transparent job.”Mohammad Afzal, another expatriate, said the new measure will solve certain problems, but deteriorates the situation for many people.
He suggested the Ministry of Human Resources Development should open branches in major cities in all Indian states to help solve the problem. “The ministry can even authorise education officers for the job in major cities,” he said.
Tony Mathew, an expatriate resident from Bangalore, said the government was obliged to act against agents who, he said, often broke the law.“Innocent people have been jailed here for no crime, because of these agents. They were jailed because these agents stamped their genuine certificates with fake UAE Embassy stamps,” he said.
The new measure has been adopted following hundreds of cases of fake attestation stamps on original certificates. The work of some agencies, according to a senior official at the Indian Embassy, has lead to an increased number of forgeries.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the ministry had authorised 25 agencies to do the job in Delhi, but after further examination, more than 13 agencies were found to be involved in malpractice and encouraged corruption by bribing officials to attest forged documents. He said the agencies, some of them with working relations with their counterparts in the UAE, have been blacklisted.
The embassy official also said the ministry will be opening more branches in the country so people may not need to travel to Delhi. “What I have gathered from HRD ministry is that they are working on new measures that would be more convenient for the people in the country and abroad,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to attestation agencies in the UAE, their business has been badly affected since the government has introduced the new procedure. “We have more than 1,500 documents pending for attestation in Delhi and Bombay,” said Badr Al Din of Helpline Group.
He said the agency receives 2,000 documents, on average, every month. Officials from other agencies said they receive 150 to 300 documents for attestation every month.
Most of the agencies in the UAE charge Dh500 to Dh600, which includes courier, telephone and attestation charges. The HRD ministry charges Indian Rs50 (about Dh4), while the UAE Embassy and its consulates charge Rs750. In total, it might cost little more than Dh65 for the attestation.
Gulf News
