Indian Embassy to set up welfare fund for Indians

Talmiz Ahmad, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, during an interview at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Embassy to set up welfare fund for Indians
By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter /GULF NEWS Published: August 11, 2007, 23:04

Abu Dhabi: The Indian Embassy will establish a welfare fund for the community, said Talmiz Ahmad, the new Indian Ambassador to the UAE.

To raise a fund at the initiative of the embassy is very easy but it is tough to maintain it efficiently and transparently, he told Gulf News on Saturday.

"The welfare fund will be set up similar to the one existing in the Dubai Indian Consulate with the cooperation of the community. A welfare fund is essential to help the needy in the community
"An embassy reflects the personality and priority of its ambassador and I want to work my mission on two pillars of integrity and efficiency," he pointed out.

"If any section of the staff does not rise to the expectation of the community, it is the failure of the ambassador as the head of the mission. I have made it clear to the staff in our first meeting that the mission will not compromise on integrity and efficiency. If one is not there the other too fails."

Compulsion

"Ignorance is the least issue in the case of illegal workers and most of them land up in such a situation willingly and sometimes out of compulsion. The problem of Indian illegal workers will continue until the workers decide that they don't want be in danger of being illegals in a foreign country," he added.

"The root cause of the problem is in India itself. Workers are compelled to pay huge amounts to visa agents after taking loans from local moneylenders. The workers then are unable to clear their debts. Most of them prefer to stay back after the expiry of visas, wishing to earn more money as an illegal worker than living as a legal person back home."

He recollected such experiences while serving as ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and now the UAE.