Indian expats seek resumption of Open House in Dubai

Dubai : Indian community workers in Dubai and the northern emirates have urged the consulate authorities to resume the Open House event.

The Open House was started years ago at the Indian Consulate in Dubai and the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi for the community to interact with mission officials, air grievances and get expert advice on legal, health and financial issues.

While the interactive platform continues to be held at the embassy in Abu Dhabi, it gradually stopped being held at the Consulate in Dubai. One of the main reasons cited was lack of attendance by community members.

“It was quite popular when it first began and then slowly I found not many people from the community were attending it. This was because of the timing. It was held at 8pm, which proved to be quite inconvenient for the community to travel — as many of them were leaving the office at that time,” said K.V. Shamsudheen, of the Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust.

He said he hoped that the new Indian consul-general would resume the event.

C.P. Mathew, a senior member of welfare organisation Valley of Love, was one of the many people to highlight grievances from community members at the Open House. He said that with the outsourcing of some services the community barely gets a chance to interact with consulate officials.

“The Open House was one of the best ways for the low-income group to get expert advice, especially on financial matters. We use to bring so many problems up at the Open House, now it has all stopped. I will get in touch with the new consul-general and seek his assistance in getting the Open House back on track. We have got a dynamic consul general in Dubai and hopefully there shouldn’t be any problem.”

K.L.Gobi, another member of the Indian welfare and cultural organisation, was of the opinion that the Open House brought credibility to the consulate.  “It was a good platform for the community to come face to face with mission officials. I feel it is the responsibility of the consulate to take the Open House forward and maintain its continuity.”