THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After 34 years into the service of recruiting workforce to the Gulf, the fully Government-owned agency, Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants Ltd (ODEPC),has so far managed to find jobs for only 6,112 people.Ironically enough, even with the few number of recruits, the agency is still running in profit. During the period of 2009-10 the consultants made a profit of Rs 18 lakh and during the last financial year the agency is believed to have made a profit of Rs 30 lakh when the audit was completed.Lack of proper marketing of this agency in the Gulf and Kerala was the reason cited for its poor show, when compared to other private recruitment agencies. Even with the ever-increasing cases of visa fraud reported from every part of the state, the government is yet to take the initiative to create awareness among the people and check illegal entry into the Gulf.ODEPC was constituted in 1977 with a view to providing employment to Keralites without being double-crossed by agents or middlemen. ‘Gateway to Great Future’, the slogan of the agency, has failed to catch the attention of the Gulf job-seekers.GL Muraleedharan, managing director, ODEPC, told Express that the agency was able to run in profit only because of the Travel Division which was started in 1991.Last year the agency was able to recruit 252 professionals to the Gulf and this year already 49 persons had found jobs.Only 30 companies from the Gulf have registered with this agency and some 8,000 Keralites are already in the queue to find a suitable job in the Gulf. The travel division brings in a good revenue which helps ODEPC make profit.“The majority of those who register with the agency are teachers and nurses, as several Indian schools and hospitals have registered with ODEPC. Even though there is a boom in construction activities in the Gulf, those companies haven’t contacted the Kerala Government or ODEPC to recruit professionals to the industry," he said.After recession, Dubai is yet to resume recruiting more professionals. There is a boom in construction and other industries in Qatar and in the near future this will be a potential market for highly qualified technicians and professionals.Muraleedharan said that for the past 15 years there had been no budgetary support for the ODEPC.More companies from the Gulf will register with the ODEPC only if the performance of the agency is properly propagated through the Union Government to the respective ministries in the Gulf region.To attract more industries from the Gulf for manpower recruitment, Norka-Roots also adopted the same step which ended in failure. Only a few industries sought the services of Norka which could have ensured job protection and full wages to the employees from Kerala.
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