Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 19 (IANS): Kerala government agencies will recruit nurses for Kuwait after reports came that nurses have been cheated by private recruitment firms, a minister said Friday.

"We have got complaints that about 500 nurses from Kerala have been duped by recruitment agencies and are facing hardships. The recruitment fees for Kuwait is in range of Rs.1.5 to Rs.20 lakh," state Minister for Diaspora K.C. Joseph told reporters here.

"We have informed the Indian embassy in Kuwait that two state government agencies are ready to do this (recruitment) job at a minimal fee," he said.

The agencies which will carry on recruitments are the Overseas Development and Employment Promotion Consultants and Roots-Norka (the agency that looks after the welfare of the Kerala diaspora).

"These recruitments are done by private agencies who have a license to do it. We will now approach the central government to give the two state-owned agencies the license to conduct the recruitments," said Joseph.