HRF seeks justice for aspirants cheated in TOMCOM scam

The HRF expressed concerns over the company's recruitment process for jobs in Germany.

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad-based Human Rights Forum (HRF) has sought justice for job aspirants allegedly cheated by the Telangana Overseas Manpower Company (TOMCOM) in its recruitment programme for jobs in Germany.

The HRF expressed concern over the company’s recruitment process, saying it had gathered information from victims during a meeting on October 31.

“Initially, TOMCOM released an attractive brochure stating that there were jobs in Germany in fields such as mechatronics and electronics,” the forum said.

Trusting the advertisement, candidates approached TOMCOM, with all correspondence taking place through the government agency. The aspirants were also told that candidates from previous batches had secured jobs in Germany. Believing that employment was guaranteed, they enrolled in the programme.

However, just as German language coaching was about to begin, a private entity from Uttar Pradesh, Fairstreet India Private Limited, was brought into the picture. Two weeks after the training began, candidates were asked to sign an agreement with the private company.

According to the agreement, candidates had to pay Fairstreet a fee of Rs 4,10,400. Even the admission letters were issued by the private company.

Despite collecting the fee, the agency allegedly failed to provide quality training, resulting in several candidates failing the examination.

The HRF alleged that instead of providing qualified candidates with jobs in electronics-related fields, the agency asked them to consider jobs such as garbage collection and work in animal slaughterhouses in Germany.

When questioned about the fiasco, TOMCOM failed to provide satisfactory answers, the forum alleged.

The HRF expressed concern over job aspirants being misled after placing their trust in announcements made by a public sector undertaking.

It said that even if a government body engages a private agency as a partner, all agreements must be executed directly in the name of the government entity (TOMCOM) and not the private firm. Public trust in the institution, whose chairman is the Labour Minister, must not be betrayed, it said.

The forum added that several young people had already lost two precious years of their lives due to the alleged fraud.

The HRF’s demand comes after Siasat.com’s investigation found that none of the 24 Ausbildung candidates who spoke to it could name a German employer that had interviewed them. Candidates said an agreement weakening the promise of interviews was introduced after they had paid approximately Rs 1.28 lakh each.

In a separate bus-driver programme, two candidates said they were initially told that A2-level German proficiency would be sufficient, only for officials to demand B1 or B2 proficiency four months into the training.

Kumar went further than the findings of the investigation. “Several people were promised jobs like electricians and in the hospitality sector. However, they were sent abroad on tourist visas and promised jobs. When they reached the destination, they were cheated,” he said.