Kochi, Thursday, 13 August 2009: Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi has said that the Central government has taken a serious view of the widespread fraud being committed by unscrupulous agents in the guise of facilitating overseas education.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function here on Thursday, Vayalar Ravi said that the biggest such fraud was taking place in the name of vocational education and training (VET) in Australia. The fact that the number of Indian students in Australia has increased from 10,000 to 96,000in merely three years pointed towards this, he said.

The Minister said that reining in deceitful agents was primarily the responsibility of the State government invoking the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code. Vayalar Ravi said that his ministry had written to the chief ministers on the issue more than once.

He said that once advertisements of facilitating overseas education came to its attention, the State government concerned should check the veracity of the claim using the police force and in the event of it proving bogus the culprits should be taken into custody. “”They (fraudulent agents) should not be merely restricted but should be sent to prison,” Mr. Ravi said.

Minister said that his ministry was mulling over bringing a licensing system for agencies facilitating overseas education.