CHICAGO: Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is likely to lead a delegation to India after his election next year with a view to giving further boost to burgeoning trade between Illinois and India in the past few years.
Indian Consul General Dr Ausaf Sayeed, said that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was also considering paying a visit to India in foreseeable further in order to further cement Sister City relations with New Delhi. Besides cultural exchange an improvement in trade relations is also on the agenda, he said here.
Sharing this information at the press meet at Consulate office in Chicago, Dr Sayeed said that closer business ties between India and the Midwest region, which is under his jurisdiction, would be one of the primary areas he would focus on as India has emerged a major trading partner not only with USA at large but Chicago, Illinois and Midwest too. Illinois ranked 7th among the 50 US States for imports from India and 7th in exports, showing a 40% increase
It is interesting to note that the exports from India to Illinois boomed to $590 million for the periods ending June 2013 while the imports from Illinois were at $367 million. The figures for Midwest are still more impressive and the Consulate is seeking to give a further boost in coming years, Dr Sayeed said. He was accompanied by two colleagues Consuls NJ Gangte and Devashis Banerjee.
Dr Sayeed informed that his purpose of hosting this meet was to appraise the media about the working of Consulate, its volume of work, limitations and also get a feel of the grievances and problems faced by members of the Indian community in general with a view to have them addressed to properly. The press briefing was well attended and the media got away with the impression that the new CG is serious in understanding the problems and was keen to have them resolved amicably.
A suggestion to have frequent town hall type meetings was well received by the CG. He sought cooperation from local community organizations to get them organized to reach out to the public and try to explain rules and changes the in issuance of Visa, PIO and OCI cards. He also appraised about services rendered by CG Office and time taken/required for each issue and reason for the same, and assured he would continuously try to reduce period of action to the minimum possible, barring certain formalities that need clearance from New Delhi. There were many problems and incidents were cited related to Visa and other services delegated to new agency BLS. The CG assured that his office would try to address them.
He furnished data to show that the Consulate was relatively speaking quite burdened but its staff still managed to handle the job efficiently. The following indicated the CG office workload:
Number of Visas Issued: 2012 – 45,357; 2013 (up to 24th Sep) – 30,427
Number of OCI Cards Issued: 2012 – 11,367; 2013 (up to 24th Sep) – 5,620
Number of Passports Issued: 2012 – 1830; 2013 (up to 24th Sep) – 1304
Number of PIO Cards Issued: 2012 – 4957; 2013 (up to 24th Sep) – 3292
Number of miscellaneous services Issued: 2012 – 11164; 2013 (up to 24th Sep) – 8927
Consular Services include: Visa; PIO card; OCI card; Renunciation of India Citizenship/Surrender Certificate; Passport Related Services; Miscellaneous Services; Life Certificate; Marriage Certificate; No Obligation Letter for Child Adoption; Power of Attorney; Birth; Change; Attestation of Will; Attestation of Documents; Attestation of Death Documents; Birth Certificate or Non-availability of Birth Certificate; Commercial Documents; Affidavit for Child Support to be issued in India; Academic Qualification Equivalence; Certificate; NRI Certificate; Certificate; No; Statement of Need; Emergency Certificate.
In a talk to the Media, he indicated that the Consulate has installed emergency number 312 780 9801 to facilitate getting visa on emergency basis for traveling to India. Dr Sayeed also laid emphasis on promoting cultural ties and academic faculties’ exchanges. A suggestion to get here the Indian Heritage Exhibition – Beyond Hollywood being organized by Smithsonian Museum in New York was readily accepted.
A product of Osmania University with Master of Science and Ph.D. in Geology under his belt, Dr Ausaf Sayeed, is an acclaimed author with three books to his credit. He came to Chicago succeeding Ms Mukta Tomar after a three year stint as Indian Ambassador in Yemen. He has handled different areas of work in his 24 years of diplomatic service. He has held various diplomatic assignments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Denmark, besides serving as the Regional Passport Officer in Hyderabad.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
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