Punjab promises legal aid to students

CHANDIGARH: Amid reports of hundreds of Indian students in Canada facing deportation over "fake admission offer letters", Punjab minister for NRI affairs Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Thursday said that the state government would provide free legal assistance to them.
He said the students, who are mostly from Punjab, would be assisted by lawyers who are experts in immigration laws in Canada.
Dhaliwal also said that he sent a letter to all MPs of Punjab origin in Canada to help in resolving the issue so that the future of the students is not jeopardised.
Chairing a meeting with civil and police officers associated with the NRI department at Punjab Bhawan, Dhaliwal gave directions to all deputy commissioners and SSPs to scrutinise the documents of travel agents and immigration agencies and send a report by July 10. He expressed concern that many travel agents were running immigration agencies illegally.
The minister said that had the system been transparent, there would have been less scope for illegal travel and immigration agencies to indulge in human trafficking.
He said a special campaign would soon be launched in Punjab against fake travel agents and immigration agencies.
"I have mentioned in my letter that these students had not gone to Canada on forged documents, they fell prey to unscrupulous travel agents. Their antecedents were checked at various levels before they were enrolled ... Some lawyers in Canada have offered to provide free legal aid and the advocate general will set up a panel," said Dhaliwal.
On other steps for the welfare of NRIs, Dhaliwal said that if any Punjabi immigrant has been deliberately implicated in a wrong case in the last 10 years, such cases would be investigated, and justice will be given to the victim.
The state minister said meetings with NRIs would be held for the first time in those villages of Punjab where immigrants have helped in developmental work in their native areas or earned a name at the national or international level.
Dhaliwal said that NRI meetings will be held at the district level from July 15 to August 30. He invited all non-resident Punjabis to come to these meetings with their problems, and efforts will be made to solve every problem on the spot. A total of 609 complaints were received in the first NRI meeting, out of which 522 have been resolved while 87 are pending, he said.
Dhaliwal also informed that there is a plan to bring a new NRI policy by September 30 to help resolve all kinds of problems and complaints.