Emirates Evening Post -- May 5
Machine Readable Passpopts will reduce chances of forgery and speed up immigration clearance By Rayeesa Absal Abhu Dhabi -- I n a move aimed at speeding up consular passport services, the Indian Embassy launched its first Machine Readable Pass ports (MRP) yesterday. Eventually, all Indian passports are expected to be machine readable. "The embassy plans to gradually replace old passports with MRPs whenever citizens submit passports for services like renewal or changing personal details. The new computerised consular wing (electronic consular facilities) at the embassy was inaugurated by the Indian Minister for Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi, in the presence of Indian Ambassador C.M. Bhandari. The new wing has been launched in view of the increasing volume of consular work at the embassy and to ensure parity with international standards and norms. Ravi also handed out Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards. So far, 28 applications have been received for OCI cards, of which five are under process and the rest are ready for delivery, according to the embassy. The launching took place after the Indian Government granted recognition to the new system, which is expected to reduce chances of forgery and manipulation. The computerisation of consular facilities will also reduce chances of human error, besides increasing productivity and promising faster immigration clearance. New passports and other passportrelated services usually take five working days to be completed. Abu Dhabi is the final stopover in Ravi's UAE visit, also bringing to a close his week-long visit to the Gulf countries. As part of his visit, the minister met with several prominent members of the Indian community including representatives and leaders of major Indian organis in the UAE. Turn to Page 7 for 2 sive interview with Ravi. big demand Passport-related services sought over the past five yea Year New Passports Other Services 2001 26,582 5151 2002 30,856 4575 2003 41,378 5537 2004 42,012 6674 2005 37,226 6598 INTERVIEW 'Workers need protection' By Kiran Bajwa DUBAI On his maiden visit to the UAE as Indian Minister for Overseas Affairs, Vayalar Ravi has a packed schedule. During his three-day stay, he will meet Indian workers as well as attend a number of functions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In an exclusive interview, Ravi spoke about a range of issues concerningIndian expatriates. Excerpts from the interview. You have been talking about amending the Indian Emigration Act to protect immigrants. What sort of amendments do you propose? We are trying to provide teeth to the act. By making it a strict act, we will be able to protect poor jobseekers from the nexus of agents. I want to put unscrupulous agents behind bars and punish them strictly. What is the status of the modernisation of Protector of Emigrants Office? Do you think this would streamline its functioning, making it more transparent and effective? It is done. Our offices have been fully computerised. All our embassies can access labourer records in a fraction of a second. This has made the office's functioning effective and has opened more branches in north Indian states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Around Rs 400 crore is lying with the Protector of Emigrants Office. Don't you think that the interest earned on this amount should be sent to Indian missions to help needy expatriate workers? I have to look into the details about how the money can be utilised. If relevant provisions are there, we will definitely avail of them. What is the status of the Smart Card issuing process? Will you will able to meet the September 30 deadline? We are trying to complete the process of issuing Smart Cards at the earliest but I don't think we will be able to meet our deadline of September 30. We need to extend it. Smart Cards will make it easier for Indians in foreign countries (NRIs, overseas workers) to enter or exit the country. Given the growing prostitution racket in the Gulf, are you planning to introduce strict rules for single females coming here? We are working on this issue with various organisations like the National Women's Commission. We suggest that women avoid coming here alone. We won't allow single women below the age of 30 years to come here. We need to build awareness among women to combat this racket. Strict measures are required to check this abuse. How many complaints have you received in this regard? I cannot give you figures offhand but we have been receiving complaints, mostly from Saudi Arabia and Muscat. During your recent Doha visit you told Indian ambassadors in Gulf countries to send you reports about the working conditions of Indian labourers. Have you received these reports? I receive these reports regularly. We are getting complaints about certain issues concerning labourers. Sponsors/employers keeping their documents with them is one of the issues. What do you think about working conditions of Indian labourers in the UAE? Do you think they are protesting in the right manner? Many of our workers do not earn much money here and are naturally dissatisfied. However, our workers here and elsewhere should abide by the law of the land. They should complain to the embassy instead of resorting to violence and vandalism. We are implementing the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India. On its completion, I think most of the youth will choose to stay back. Most labourers in the Gulf countries hail from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala and have a problem communicating in English or Hindi. But Indian embassies in these countries do not have sufficient staff from these regions. Comment. We are looking into the issue and we will try to resolve it. Dr George Joseph, the Indian Ambassador to Qatar has almost single-handedly taken up issues of minimum salary and passports with the Qatar government. Don't you think other ambassadors should display such initiative? All our ambassadors work as per the directions of the Government of India. Ever3 ambassador is taking up these issues effectively with the respective governments. sidebox "Who are NRIs?' At Indian Minister for Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi's luncheon session with the Indian Business and Professional Council, Dubai, a businessman, Vashu Shrof struck an important chord for the labourer community when he asked the minister, "Who are NRIs? Businessmen like us or poor Labourers? They have genuine problems, which need to be addressed. We don't have such problems but are complaining. We have money to solve our issues but labourers find it difficult to earn their bread and butter here and also face problems back home." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)