THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A group of youths have raised allegations of cheating and labour exploitation by a private organisation which has several branches in the city.
Most of the youths, hailing from other districts in the State, said that they were forced to work without salary for more than two years in the name of training. They said that the company owned by one Joy Joseph of Ernakulam is known in various names such as Sevana Curry Powder, German Physical Laboratory, Hindustan Power Links, GE-Tech and Bentech.
They said that 15 to 20 employees, both male and female, were put together in rented houses in various parts of the city. They were not allowed to contact their families. Only a meagre amount of Rs 20 was given as daily allowance. The food and travel expenditure had to be met with this money. They said that they had to stay hungry for most of the time. The company roped in employees through newspaper advertisements which promised attractive salaries, they said. Mostly youths from economically and socially backward families were chosen for the jobs. They were told that their salaries would be credited to their accounts when the training was over. Those who protested were threatened by the company authorities, they said.