What your country can do for you...

He calls it firing on all fronts. Whether through a Facebook page or a first-of-its-kind radio chat show, Sanjay Verma, the Indian Consul General in Dubai, uses every possibility to ensure that the community in Dubai and the Northern Emirates has greater access to the consulate's many old and new services. That's no easy feat, given that there are some 1.7 million Indians in the UAE. GN Focus talked to him about the sea change at the consulate.

GN FOCUS: Could you elaborate on some of the ways the Indian Consulate in Dubai is reaching out to Non-Resident Indians here?

CONSUL GENERAL: Our live weekly radio show India Matters every Friday on Suno102.4 FM and our monthly magazine of the same name are also our windows to the community. The radio show is the only one of its kind for any Indian consulate in the world.

On outreach, I would like to stress that the Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) is our biggest interface with the community. The Centre's multilingual 24x7 helpline, 800 INDIA or 80046342, is the one stop for the community on labour issues, information on the Embassy and Consulate's work and free counselling on psychological/financial and legal matters. We are the first government to offer such facilities to its overseas citizens. The Centre has received close to 13,000 calls since its November opening.

Other outreach activities include periodic visits to hospitals to ascertain the welfare of Indian patients, especially, those without support; weekly visits to prisons in Dubai and Sharjah and monthly visits to prisons in Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ajman to check on the welfare of the Indian inmates, including women prisoners. Then we have the Indian Community Welfare Committee (ICWC), which meets in a general body format every month. It consists of 75 Indian associations and organisations.

There have been many media reports about the rise in suicides among the Indian community. How have the numbers changed?

Our statistics show 147 suicides in 2008; 113 in 2009; 110 in 2010 and43 in the first half of this year. Without trying to downplay the numbers in terms of a community, we have to see those numbers in context tothe Indian population in the UAE, which stands at 1.7 million.

But why are so many people committing suicide?

There is no single reason. Financial issues, psychological disorders such as low self-esteem, bipolar personalities and even interpersonal issues can lead to suicides. But contrary to popular notion, the majority is not from the lower income or labour category of our nationals.

Has the IWRC helpline been successful?

It is hard to say. Those who come to utilise the services get patient hearing and counselling. But culturally, it is not acceptable among Indians to approach a psychologist or psychiatrist. We are trying to reach out and minimise the isolation of individuals in the community. We will soon launch a module wherein a psychiatrist will train key individuals in every Indian association to understand the signs of people with suicidal tendencies. We also have a service for initial free legal counselling.

What is the consulate's involvement with legal cases?

As a government agency, we do not get into the situation directly and don't entertain premeditated murder, financial or drug-related cases. But we do intervene through the ICWC, which is a private effort largely under the patronage of the consulate, when we feel people have run out of luck and are in prison for wrong reasons such as accidental deaths.

What changes can we expect in the Northern Emirates?

In Sharjah, we have been allotted land by the kind generosity of the Ruler of Sharjah to build a crematorium. The Ruler of Ajman has also kindly allotted land to the Indian association there to build a permanent facility, including a sports club.

Has BLS succeeded in ironing out the hassles encountered by the community for passport and visa renewals?

We did have substantial teething issues with BLS in the first six to eight weeks. And bad press, but deservedly so due to unexpected turnover of BLS employees. But it is now behind us and we receive only letters of appreciation. Since April, they have processed 100,000 passports and visas. I don't think there is any other outsourcing agency in the UAE that handles that kind of volume. The turnaround time today for both visas and passports is unique to any agency that handles passport services.

You're on Facebook now. Why social media?

Social media cant be ignored. We have always been open and accessible and that is the image that we are trying to project. This is to address a certain niche (between 18 and 38 years) in the population, which otherwise does not interact with the consulate, though it has a voice. We will be happy to address all their issues through Facebook. Twitter is next on the cards.

Distinguished career

Sanjay Verma joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1990. His overseas assignments have included economic and commercial work in Hong Kong, and being the Head of the Economic and Commercial Wing at the Indian Embassy in Beijing. Prior to Dubai, he was the first Joint Secretary (Director General) of the Energy Security Division at the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.