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In a major step to address problems relating to consular services as well as other issues that may require consular intervention, the New York consulate has decided to have an 'Open Day' for non-resident Indians every week beginning next week.
The outreach initiative has been launched in the wake of a directive from the Indian government asking consulates to have regular interaction with Indian nationals to understand their problems and come up with solutions.
'The external affairs minister himself is very keen to have this open day and it is his initiative. The Indian government has started 'passport adalats (courts)' and the open day at the consulate is a furtherance of that policy,' said Ambassador Prabhu Dayal, India's consul general in New York.
'The minister feels that the consulates should send signals to the Indian community that they should feel free to contact the consulates to get help. The idea is to encourage them to come to the consulate and tell us about their problems.'
Under the initiative, which is expected to be launched by other consulates as well, a designated consular official will have one-on-one meetings with NRIs -- only those holding Indian passports -- every Thursday between 2 pm and 4 pm.
'People have passport-related issues. Sometimes, they, for lack of communication, either do not follow up on their issues or do not provide right kind of documentations necessary to process passports,' Dayal said.
'Sometimes it is possible that somebody's relative may be detained wrongfully and that person may be in need of urgent help for his or her relative, about which we would not know unless we are informed. But once this 'Open Day' initiative takes off we will be able to contact US authorities and render necessary assistance in situations like this.'
Asked if the initiative was coming somewhat late in the day, Dayal said the initiative to meet community members had always been there. "It is just a step further in terms of outreach," he said.
At the briefing, the consul said that beginning April 16, the New York consulate would outsource all passport services to VFS Global, which has been selected based on a tender by the Indian embassy.
Visa services have been outsourced since September 2007, while services related to the Overseas Citizenship of India, Person of Indian Origin card and passport surrender have been outscored since February 2011.
The passport services have been outsourced mainly because of space constraints at the New York consulate, Dayal said.
Image: Prabhu Dayal, India's consul general in New York, at the announcement of the initiative
Photograph: Paresh Gandhi/Rediff.com