In order to check the mushrooming of private employment agencies in the state, many of the fly-by-night operations that dupe the youth, the Punjab government has come up with a draft proposal to regulate such agencies.
To bring about transparency in their functioning, the state government has decided that these units must register themselves with the department of employment generation and training. The department has prepared a detailed draft of guidelines to regulate the functioning of these agencies, many of which are started by amateur persons.
According to sources, there are cases of various private job consultancies fleecing the unemployed youth. ?Unemployment is a matter of concern, and these agencies are cashing in on the insecurity among the youth in the state. These agencies are supposed to be intermediaries between employers and job-seekers, but many of them have been working outside the boundaries of the legal system and duping the applicants,? said an official.
Officials admitted once the guidelines are enforced, it will be mandatory for all private placement agencies to register with the department of employment generation and training. Also, police verification of the ‘consultants’ will be carried out. Their documents will also be checked to establish the authenticity. It will be mandatory for the agency to inform the department regularly about number of aspirants registered, and number of aspirants placed.