खोज

Anil Adhikari | Kathmandu – The renowned Malaysian plantation company, Felda Plantation Sdn Bhd, has been found engaging in unethical practices by suspending the recruitment of workers from Nepal and instead hiring workers from India.

An agent named Anil, based in India, has reportedly secured recruitment tenders with Malaysian recruitment license “C” to supply workers for six subsidiaries of Felda Plantation. The agent, who is a Malaysian citizen of Indian origin, has initiated the hiring process from India. Additionally, another individual has been assigned the responsibility of supplying workers for two other subsidiaries of Felda. It is reported that Anil applied for the open recruitment tender of Felda and earns a commission in Malaysian Ringgit (RM) for each recruitment deal.

It is alleged that agent Anil has strong ties with Felda’s management, which helped him secure the tender and control the recruitment process through six Malaysian agencies. Furthermore, there are accusations that Anil has paid commissions to Felda officials to secure the tender. As a result, workers recruited from India are facing higher recruitment fees, making the process costly for them. The unethical collaboration between Anil and corrupt Felda officials is expected to further increase recruitment costs for migrant workers.

Felda has shifted its recruitment demand from Nepal to India after realizing that Nepal’s transparent hiring process would not allow commissions and could expose flaws in their recruitment strategy. In Nepal, employers must follow strict guidelines, including publishing advertisements in national newspapers seven days before interviews, ensuring that workers can apply freely. However, India lacks such regulations, making it easier for Felda to exploit workers.

If Felda genuinely wanted a transparent hiring process, recruiting workers from Nepal would have been more ethical and transparent than from India. Several Malaysian companies have successfully recruited Nepali workers through ethical hiring procedures at no cost to the workers. However, Felda’s corrupt officials prefer a system that allows them to profit from recruitment deals.

Despite changing its source country for recruitment, Felda’s unethical hiring practices remain unchanged. Reports indicate that Indian workers recruited for Felda will have to pay between INR 60,000 to INR 95,000 (Indian Rupees) to secure jobs in Malaysia.

With the demand being diverted from Nepal, Nepali recruitment agents who had already invested in securing the demand have suffered financial losses, including commissions and procedural costs. Many of these transactions were conducted through illegal money transfer channels (hundi). Some Nepali agents might also have been involved in diverting the demand.

Felda had already scheduled interviews with some Nepali manpower agencies, and several agencies had even finalized interview dates. However, after media scrutiny and concerns from stakeholders, Felda suspended the recruitment process in Nepal, fearing exposure of its non-transparent hiring process. Had Felda allowed a transparent hiring practice in Nepal, Nepali workers could have been recruited without any recruitment fees, but instead, the company opted to shift its demand to India.

According to sources, Felda has issued official recruitment demands to the following Indian recruitment intermediaries via its Online Migrant Management System:

Samint Employment
Mughal House Manpower
Ayyan Consultancy
R S International
Taifiq Manpower
Advertisements related to Felda’s recruitment are already being published in India.

Felda’s Ethics Under Question
Regardless of the country it hires from, Felda’s recruitment practices have raised serious concerns about transparency and integrity. By disregarding ethical hiring norms, Felda is increasing financial burdens on workers, which could severely impact the international labor supply chain.