Govt to cime to aid of harrassed Indian students in Australia

New Delhi, Oct 19 (UNI) Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi has assured the Indian Community that no efforts would be spared to put an end to nefarious practices of unscrupulous Indian agents, creating harassments of Indian students in Australia.

He was addressing a community reception in Melbourne, organised by the Federation of Indian Association of Victoria (FIAV), grouping 21 socio-cultural bodies.

The minister's attention was drawn to reports of Indian students' harassment and detention for lack of proper documents and exceeding the permissible office hours work limits.

He was informed about several cases of suffering of students recruited through unscrupulous Indian agents working as recruiting officers for fraudulent educational institutions in Australia.

Expressing his anguish over few incidents of suicides by Indian students and the community had to pool in resources to fly the bodies back to home, he said such practices of unscrupulous Indian agents sully the image of India in Australia and act against promoting educational ties between both countries.

On the occasion, the Minister also invited the Indian Community to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2007 in New Delhi. A promo-film of PBD-2007 was also shown. He called upon the community to stand united and work for promoting India's interest and image in Australia.

The Minister also held a meeting with the Lord mayor of Melbourne, John So and discussed matters of mutual interest including ties between the City of Melbourne and Delhi in the context of Commonwealth Games.

He also gave an interview in Hindi to Special Broadcast Service Radio (SBS), an ethnic radio channel funded by the Australian Government. The SBS broadcasts news and current affairs in 68 languages, including five Indian languages and has a worldwide listenership.

After a successful tour of Australia, the Minister left Melbourne to undertake his first ever visit to FIJI.

UNI SH SB VV1842