The Indian embassy hosted a Virtual Open House on January 20th, which was attended by a large number of Indians residing in Kuwait.
Indian Ambassador, H.E Sibi George, and other senior officials were present during the meeting. In his remarks to the attendees, Ambassador Sibi pointed out that these open houses were a supplement to the various press releases and social media bulletins that were regularly issued.
“I do not see the open house as a grievance redressal mechanism alone. It is much more than that. Of course, I look forward to listening to any grievances, comments, and suggestions at these Open Houses. Those with unresolved grievances and difficulties are our priorities, and we will try to address all their concerns.” said the Indian Ambassador.
The Ambassador said that the embassy provided support and assistance to all deserving cases, including food, lunch at the Embassy, air tickets, and travel arrangements for hospital patients. He said “There are regular visits to the jails, detention centers, deportation centers, police stations and hospitals by the Embassy officials. We will continue all this, in the coming days and weeks.”
During the course of the meeting, updates on the Emergency Certificate drive were discussed. “Our endeavor has been to issue the Emergency Certificates on the same day, to avoid their travel to the Embassy multiple times We are coming to an end to the two-month special correction drive that the Kuwaiti authorities had announced for correction of legal status,” he added.
The Indian ambassador said that the embassy was able to address the issue pertaining to Police Verification on the re-issuance of passports. “Very few cases now are in the pre-verification category, meaning passports can be issued without waiting for police verification in India. However, please continue to submit your passports for renewal, two months before the expiry of residence permits.”
A presentation was also conducted on ‘Consular Services- Passports and Emergency Certificates’ by Dr. Vinod Gaikwad.
The Indian ambassador remarked, “Anyone who has consular issues could meet my colleague Shri Amitabh Ranjan in this daily open house, or send an email to us. We are responding to each of the serious mails and to comments on feedback forms. Shri Amitabh Ranjan will look after Consular Service during the leave period of Shri Ranveer Bharati, who is returning next week.”
On the occasion of Indian Republic Day celebrations, Indian Ambassador George invited all Indians and friends of India, He stated, “I would like to invite all of you to participate in our Republic Day celebrations virtually. We will have the flag hoisting ceremony and the reading of the address by Hon’ble Rashtrapatiji at 9 in the morning. I invite all of you to join us virtually through the Embassy’s social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. I also invite you to join us for a patriotic song concert in the evening at 6 PM on January 26, again a virtual-only event.”
The Indian embassy is organizing regular weekly Open House sessions under various themes to address the concerns of the Indian community in Kuwait. It has now been decided for the third Wednesday of every month at 3 pm.
The Open House is open to all Indian nationals in Kuwait. Those interested may register by sending their details including full name as in passport, passport number, Civil ID number and contact number and address in Kuwait, along with a summary of the issues likely to be raised in the open house, through an email to community.kuwait@mea.gov.in. Those registered will be intimated on the meeting ID and other details.
