DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Haryana Assembly Wednesday passed a bill aimed to curb illegal immigration, with Home Minister Anil Vij saying that activities of unregistered travel agents who cheat gullible youth have emerged as a "serious disease". The assembly also passed a bill to regulate private coaching institutions in the state so as to safeguard the interests of students and their guardians.

A total of nine bills, including the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Travel Agents Bill, 2024, were passed on the concluding day of over the week-long Budget session. Some of the bills passed were introduced during previous days. The nine bills were passed in the absence of the opposition Congress members who had staged a walkout from the House on

another matter.

Moving the travel agents bill, Vij said that activities of unscrupulous travel agents who cheat gullible youth have emerged as a "serious disease" which needs to be tackled.

The bill provides for measures to check and monitor the unlawful and fraudulent activities of the travel agents, he said.

According to the provisions of the bill, whoever attempts or is found involved in human smuggling or found involved in the preparation of forged documents, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to 10 years and shall also be liable to fine of Rs 2 lakh which may extend to Rs 5 lakh. Vij said now no travel agent can operate without registration.

The statement of objects and reasons of the bill said that it has come to government's notice that innocent and unemployed youth of Haryana were being lured into traps of illegal immigration on a large scale through illegitimate means.

Unscrupulous and unregistered travel agents deceive such persons by promising them easy and quick immigration to foreign countries. These agents promise to arrange work visas, work permits, study visa through offer letter from universities and colleges in foreign countries, but in many cases, they fail to deliver on their promises, as per the bill. They charge exorbitant fees and demand huge amount of money at different stages, it said.

Many a time, these agents send innocent persons to foreign countries illegally and such persons are caught and put behind bars by the police of those countries. Therefore, there is a dire need to curb the illegal activities of such travel agents, as per the bill. The state assembly also passed the Haryana Registration and Regulation of Private Coaching Institutes Bill, 2024.
(editor@dailyworld.in)