Goa to Hike Penalties for Unlawful Recruitment Drives

The Goa government plans to amend labour laws to increase penalties on private companies conducting recruitment drives without informing the state-run employment exchange. The proposal aims to deter companies from violating the law, which requires job data to be sourced from the employment exchange, with upcoming amendments to sharply raise fines.

The Goa government will amend labour laws to increase the penalty on private companies conducting recruitment drives without informing the state-run employment exchange, minister Atanasio Monserratte said on Friday.

The state labour minister told reporters that several companies were advertising outside Goa about such recruitment drives, in the process violating a law which makes it mandatory for them to source data from the employment exchange.

''The fine currently for violating the law is merely Rs 500, which does not act as a deterrent. We would be amending the law during upcoming Assembly session and increase the penalty exorbitantly for companies violating the law. Companies should send their requirement to the employment exchange first,'' he said.

The issue was raised recently after two private companies were found advertising about their recruitment drives in Maharashtra for a Goa based plant.

Opposition parties had questioned why the recruitment had to be undertaken outside the state despite availability of resources in the state.