Daily ‘Open House’
at Indian missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Indian expatriates in the UAE can now walk into their diplomatic missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to address their concerns from 10am to 12noon on all working days of the week.

“It has been a constant endeavour of the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India, Dubai, to make (their) services transparent and more accessible to Indian nationals in the UAE. As part of these efforts, the Embassy/Consulate would be holding ‘Open House’ at (their) premises on every working day (Sunday to Thursday from 10am to 12noon),” the Indian Embassy said in a press statement on Monday.

“During the Open House, any member of the Indian community can interact with officers concerned without any prior appointment,” it added.

Indian Ambassador T.P. Seetharam told Khaleej Times he has brought in the new system in response to complaints that the old system of Open House, where officials addressed grievances on a particular day of every month, collapsed and some people without appointments get turned away from the missions. Community members had also complained about the late evening schedule of the Open House and lack of interaction with the missions after their services were outsourced.

“I received these complaints during my interactions with the community members and associations. We want to let the people know that we are accessible and helpful,” he said.

The envoy said the monthly Open House system was stopped after the number of participants dwindled to null. “We hope this will be a better system. But, we are not anticipating any big rush every day. If there are many people to see the officers, we may activate a token system.”

However, he clarified that Indian nationals should approach the missions only when it is necessary and must complete the application processes at the outsourced service centres before visiting the missions for any help for such procedures. Indian social workers, who frequently attended the Open House earlier, welcomed the resumption of the system in a convenient manner.

“This means the doors of the Indian missions are open on all working days. It is an excellent and practically feasible decision. I congratulate and appreciate the Ambassador for this great decision,” said K.V. Shamsudheen, chairman of Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust.

The Embassy said the initiative needs to be seen as part of a slew of measures taken by the Embassy for the benefit of Indian nationals such as the Indian Community Welfare Fund, Indian Workers Resource Centre; the outsourced passport centres located all over the UAE, fast track service for registration of death and repatriation of bodies, and jail visits.

sajila@khaleejtimes.com