Home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy launched Telangana Overseas Manpower Company Ltd (Tomcom) at a function held here on Wednesday and also handed over visas to six job aspirants to go to the Gulf countries.

Reddy, also chairman of Tomcom, said  several youths from Telangana had been duped by middlemen promising them overseas jobs. Several youths even landed in jails in other countries. “Tomcom will help the youth to find a suitable job with required legal documents,” the minister said.

Vice-chairman RV Chandravadan said Tomcom, in association with recruiting agencies, would consult employers in other countries and see that the youth from Telangana would get good jobs. Tomcom’s objective is that those who have gone abroad should return to home towns safely after the expiry of the work visa.

According to an estimate, around 10 lakh persons from Telangana are currently employed in the Gulf and other countries. Several youths are being lured and sent to other countries for jobs on visit visa, Azad visa, free visa and private visa. That is illegal and Tomcom will ensure that all job-seekers go abroad only on work visa.

Narasimha Reddy handed over visas to six youths who will be working at a ship yard  in Qatar as steel fitters and markers.

Tomcom will soon recruit carpenters, masons, doctors, nurses and engineers for employment in Africa, Canada, Maldives and Gulf.

U Narasimha Reddy of Kamareddy in Nizamabad district, who received the visa from the home minister, said he got work visa for two years to work in the Gulf as a steel fitter. “I had worked in Dubai in the past. I suffered a huge loss of money because of  middlemen. Now, I got the visa at a lesser cost thanks to Tomcom,” he said.