Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Indian Consul General B. S. Mubarak pledged to improve passport and consular services with the introduction of a new VFS outsourced center next year that would be spacious, people-friendly and hassle-free for the community in getting its passport and consular services done in the future.



“We will be introducing a new center for all passport services by the start of next year, and the services of BLS International will be only available in Jeddah along with the VFS center, allowing applicants to make a choice. Two other VFS centers will be in Tabuk and Abha. We have taken this decision after following through on the community’s responses and requests,” Mubarak said during an interview in Saudia Radio.



The Indian consul general was responding to a query by an Indian caller during the program Ask with Waleed Al Shehri in Saudia Radio. Consul General Mubarak was the guest, with Al-Shehri the host and Saudi Gazette Executive Editor L. Ramnarayan Iyer the co-host.



The program was taped on Monday and will be aired on Wednesday (Nov. 5) between 9.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. and will be replayed on Thursday  (Nov. 6) between 11.00 a.m. and 12 noon. The program will be aired on the radio frequency of 96.2 in Jeddah and 97.7 in Riyadh.



Apart from the consular services, education, community school and Haj and the national carrier Air-India figured prominently in the questions asked by the callers to the consul general during the program.



The consul general allayed fears of any sudden shift of the Indian International School of Jeddah (Girls) when asked what the consulate and the management committee has done to accede to the request of the school to be shifted to a new premise. “The problem is being looked into and we hope to arrive at a solution soon. And only then will there be a systematic shift to any new premise,” he replied.



On the issue of admissions, or to be precise the lack of admissions for many students, the consul general said: “It is a problem, and I’m going to treat this as a priority issue and hopefully we can arrive at a quick solution in this regard.”



When asked about the extended tenure of the management committee, he said: “The Saudi Education department observer needs to be present in any school elections, and unfortunately, he has been very busy and could not give us time though we have approached him repeatedly. But he has promised us time soon, and we will hold the elections, then.”



There were callers from Makkah asking for a community school in the holy city as it is burdensome for families to send their children to Jeddah. He concurred with the callers that traveling to and fro 80 kms daily is cumbersome and something should be done to avoid that. He asked them to prepare a database of the number of children wishing to go to school in Makkah in order for him to see the viability of setting up a school there. He also asked them to prepare a list of people ready to assist in constructing and running the establishment if the idea fructifies. He said that he is also ready to explore the idea of setting up a community school even outside the precincts of Makkah.



The consul general also revealed that the Consulate General is using the services of Saudi lawyers to assist the mission and the community member in settling labor disputes. The practice has been in place for the last two months, he said. Mubarak was responding to questions by two Indians — one from Yanbu and another Jeddah — with respect to their problems of non-payment and non-renewals of their residence permits by their respective companies. The consul general told them to meet him personally during the open house he conducts every Sunday and Thursday mornings  (10 to 11) — when his office is open for all community members — or meet the community welfare consuls for assistance.



Many callers stressed the fact that the national airline Air India acts purely as a business house looking for opportunities to gain profits without any social commitment. It hikes its fares and reduces its baggage allowances during school holidays, festival seasons etc. (the peak period). They also called on the mission to influence the civil aviation ministries to have more number of carriers (including private airlines) to operate between Saudi Arabia and India destinations.



To this Mubarak was circumspect. He said people themselves have arrived at a solution, by giving these peak seasons a miss, and traveling on alternative dates. He added that he can only request the airlines which is a private business entity. It is for all of us to bring out the issues in various forums to be effective. Having said that, he said, he would look into the factor if Umrah passengers can be chartered during this peak period in order to allow regular passenger easy access to seats in flights.



One caller asked a series of question that highlighted the plight of students and the educationists with the following:



With the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education now allowing schools to hire dependent expats as teachers on a conditional basis, one of the eligibility requirements is for teachers to get attestations on their certificates, a time-consuming process that requires traveling outside Jeddah. It would be helpful if the Indian Consulate could look into easing the burden of this process, perhaps by appointing proper agencies to assist teachers in the matter.



The caller also highlighted the lack of standardization between Indian schools, and we would appreciate the Education department of the Indian Consulate’s help in the following standardization matters:



• Appointing a unit to examine students and attests their eligibility for admission into their current grade level.



• Assist in implementing a common academic calendar for all schools that covers opening and closing dates, examination dates, and school holidays.



• Pool school facilities and establish a nominal fee for all schools that wish to rent venues for their events. Moving further, the Consulate could also collect development fees from all schools and uses this to establish common tuition and training centers for students and professionals.



Maintain a database of dependent expats that show interest and experience in teaching, which can then be shared with schools that are seeking talent.



He welcomed the question and called on the educationist to bring these problems to him with possible solutions. He pledged to brainstorm with people and the petitioner the issues being raised and hoped that a positive solution could be arrived at within the ambit of the regulations in the Kingdom.