Dubai: The Consulate General of India (CGI) in Dubai received roughly 30 grievances in the trial phase of the new Madad (Assistance) initiative for overseas Indians, an official said on Monday.
Madad is a joint effort of India’s Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, allowing Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) to electronically register and follow up their issues regarding consular services of missions abroad.
However, passport and visa services are not included under the scheme.
The Madad cases received by CGI in Dubai were mostly regarding families seeking updates on the repatriation process of the deceased, unpaid wages and other labour issues, said R. Balakrishnan, Consul, Consular and Right to Information Affairs, CGI.
Though Madad went live a few weeks ago, it was officially launched only two days ago.
Anurag Bhushan, Consul General of India in Dubai, said Madad would speed up the complaints handling system and introduce more accountability.
“There was no structure before, if you sent an email, you would or would not get a reply. It would or would not get to the right department… I think there was this thought people had in their minds ‘Is my complaint getting handled or not?’” Bhushan said.
Under Madad, users must first register on passportindia.gov.in to use the service. Once registered, each complaint is assigned a unique number that the user can enter online to receive updates on the status of the complaint.
The user can also submit a case reopen request if he or she is not satisfied with the handling of the grievance.
The Madad service is free of charge.
If a person is illiterate or not familiar with using the internet, another person can register the complaint on his or her behalf, provided their details are registered as well.
Registering for Madad is “as simple as creating a Yahoo or Hotmail email account”, said Balakrishnan
Depending on the nature and severity of the case, the issue will be resolved between 12 days to a month, he added.
Prior to Madad, complaints were taking “four, five, or six weeks” to be resolved, in part because they had to be forwarded to the concerned department, which could have been CGI, or the two ministries.
“Now there’s a common portal [between all three bodies]. Complaints are registered and address at one point… [For example, the CGI in] Dubai will only see grievances about Dubai, and not Abu Dhabi.
“When we take action, the user will be able to see that almost simultaneously [online]… There is monitoring and tracking on all levels and angles. The room for error is less.”
Bhushan also said CGI is launching, in association with various associations, a volunteer programme to assist those in distress, especially those who have no family support in the UAE.
The consulate is also starting Aapke Dwaar, a new initiative to hold an Open House in other emirates for consular services at least once a month.
A third initiative is titled Indradhanush: Colours of India, which will host cultural programmes at the consulate auditorium free to the public.
There will also be Manthan: India Science Series lectures.
