India, Globacom on collision course over debt of $1.5m

The government of India has vowed to punish any move on the part of Globacom to further recruit from India without meeting all the requirement of the law of the country.

National Daily gathered that decision by the Indian government was based on the failure of Globacom to settle a debt of $1.5million debt owed some Indian expatriate staff of the company, whose contracts were not renewed at various times from 2015.

It was further gathered that instead of settling the outstanding debt, Globacom went ahead to conduct further recruitment exercises in India, leading to the arrest and detention of some senior staff of the company in various Indian cities last December.

In a memo by the Joint Secretary and Protector General of Emigrants in the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Government expressed concern over the development.

The memo, signed by M. C. Luther and copied to Globacom’s Director of Human Resources, Sangowawa Adewale, the Indian Government called for the settlement of the outstanding salaries of the employees.

It reads: “I am constrained to point out that there are about 40 Indian employees of M/s. Globacom Limited whose dues are pending for settlement over last 16 months. Some of them have approached us requesting for taking up the matter with Globacom and have been regularly following up with us. It has been reported that Mr. Tony Ighalo and few other officials of M/s. Globacom are currently on visit to New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for conducting further interviews for overseas recruitment to Globacom.

“You may be aware that for carrying out overseas recruitment, the Foreign Employer are required to get Demand Letter duly attested to by the nearest Indian Mission. This requirement is mandatory and any non-compliance of it is a violation of the provisions of Sections 10 and 24 of the Emigration Act, 1983, of India.

“Accordingly, the concerned Police authorities of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have been informed for taking appropriate action against visiting officials of M/s. Globacom and appropriate actions have been taken by the Police authorities.

“We are also requesting our Mission in Nigeria to scrutinize closely all visa applications of M/s. Globacom before the same is granted, especially for overseas recruitment from India.

Another letter from the Protector of Emigrants, Chennai, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, signed by Protector of Emigrants – II, G. Ravichandran, also addressed the issue.

Titled: “Illegal recruitment activities by M/s. Globacom of Nigeria in India,” the letter said in part: “In this connection, it is requested to keep activities of the representatives of M/s. Globacom under watch so that they may not indulge in recruitment activities and if they are found involved in such activities, necessary action may be taken against them as per prevailing law.”