India’s Consul General in New York, Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay visited Connecticut last month calling on to Stamford Mayor David Martin, Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling and Congressman Jim Himes. Ambassador Mulay briefed the elected officials on the Indian election and the new government’s initiative to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) in defense and insurance. He also highlighted the cooperation between the cities in America and India including possible cultural and educational exchanges.

While discussion with Stamford Mayor Martin, it was proposed to have sister city relation with Pune. A similar proposal emerged while meeting Norwalk Mayor Rilling to have sister city relation with Norwalk and Mysore. Congressman Jim Himes, a member of the India Caucus, had travelled to India several times before his election as a Congressman. He said that he would visit India pretty soon.

Ambassador Mulay joined a community reception and interactive meeting at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Stamford. Ambassador Mulay was accompanied by his fellow Consuls Mr. Ajay Purswani (Passport/Visa) and Mr. Dhirendra Singh (OCI/PIO and Community Affairs). At the program organized by GOPIO-CT, Ambassador Mulay spoke to a standing room crowd at the community reception on the new business/investment opportunities in India after the new government came into power.

In the interactive session on the issuance of Visa/Passport/OCI/PIO card documents, many issues and problems were brought to the attention Consuls Ajay Purswani and Dhirendra Singh. These included  complaints with previous outsourcing agency BLS and the new agency Cox and Kings. One main complaint is, Cox and Kings can’t be reached over the phone and their tracking systems does not work well. Other complaints included the outsourcing agencies losing passports, not sending the documents back by mail or Fedex even though it was paid for, unusual waiting time at their offices, waiting  in the street for hours to get into the office, etc. People in attendance requested the consuls to streamline these processes..

It was also brought to the notice of the consuls that the application process itself was very cumbersome. There are too many forms to fill up, need for several photos and several copies of affidavits with photos. It was suggested to use online filing with digital photo or use a couple of photos on the forms.. Other issues discussed included, rules on renunciation of old passport and particularly for those who had become American citizens long time bac, reapplying for OCI cards at the age of 20 and 50 and rules governing OCI card, if the passport is expired. Many times were told at the immigration counters in India that they had to get new OCI card. The consul told the audience that one needs to take the old passport where the visa is stamped.

Consul Dhirendra Singh told the audience that for those holding OCI cards after the age of 20 and 50, one needs to reapply for OCI card only when the current passport is expired. Consul Ajay Purswani said that in case of an emerge4ncy one could visit the consulate to get a visa. Ambassador Mulay and Consuls said that the services from the previous outsourcing agency BLS International were inadequate. They are monitoring the new agency Cox and Kings on their services now.

At the community interactive session, GOPIO-CT President Shelly Nichani welcomed the gathering. He said that GOPIO-CT has organized several interactive sessions with elected officials, academics, writers and prominent people.

The program was coordinated by GOPIOI Founder President Dr. Thomas Abraham and was attended by GOPIO International President Ashook Ramsaran.

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