IndiaPost.com - US embassy apologizes after denying visa to Baba Amte’s son

NEW DELHI: Prakash Amte, son of well-known social worker, Baba Amte, was denied visa to travel to USA because he is too poor and has no known source of income. In 1993 however, he did visit the USA and no objections were raised then. After reports of denial of visa to him were published in the media, the American consulate in Mumbai quickly regretted the incident.

Prakash and wife Mandakini were invited to Seattle next month to attend the biennial convention of the Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal of North America. The couple was to be guests of honor at the convention from June 28 to July 1. Dr Amte had already left Mumbai and was on his way to Nagpur when he received a call from chief of consular section Glenn Kaiser.

Kaiser assured Amte that the visa application would be reconsidered and expressed his regret for rejecting it. The couple were asked to submit their passports and the visa would now be home delivered. At the consulate interview, Prakash was asked about his income by the probing visa officer. Prakash replied that he did not work for money. When the officer insisted that he must be having some source of income, Prakash conceded, ‘‘Well, there is an honorarium of Rs 3,000.’’ The visa officer ended the interview saying, "It’s too little." Prakash told the Times of India that the US consulate official interviewing him for his visa application was not convinced when he told him that as a social worker he did not work for money.

‘‘The official said new US rules prevented visas being given to people with low income and weak social status,’’ he said. Like his father, who cared for tribals, senior citizens, leprosy patients and the disabled, Prakash too has been working among tribals in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh for the last 33 years. He has received the Padma Shri and several other awards for his contribution to social work. Prakash had been granted a visa in 2003 to visit the US on the invitation of the Bruhan Maharashtra Mandal.

This time too, he said, he submitted a sponsorship letter from the organization mentioning that it would bear the expenses of travel and accommodation. Another well-known social worker, the Catholic Mother Teresa, also with no source of income, had visited the US without any problems in 1997. Mother Teresa had visited the Capitol for an hour-long ceremony marking her receipt of the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor the US Congress can bestow. No questions were asked about why she did not work for money.