JEDDAH: Indian Consul General Sayeed Ahmed Baba yesterday paid a surprise visit to the outsourcing agencies that are tasked with processing visas and passports.
“The idea of paying an unannounced visit was to know the quality of service provided by the agencies,” the consul general told Arab News after visiting the three agencies whose offices are in close vicinity of the consulate.
The consul general, who was accompanied by Consul (Consular) R.S. Kharayat, said the agencies were given no prior information about his visit.
“The whole idea was to get a personal on-the-spot view of their working and also to inspect the infrastructure laid out by these agencies to deal with the Indian visa and passport services,” he said.
The team also held discussions with the staff working with these agencies and also interacted with members of the community present there.
He said the outsourcing agencies were categorically told not to encourage unauthorized persons in rendering the services on behalf of the Indian Consulate.
The consul general, who plans to hold a quarterly review meeting with the agencies, said: “Prima facie, I found the work of the agencies satisfactory and the services rendered by them up to the mark. Yet, our team comprising the consul and vice consul (passport) will regularly visit the head offices of the agencies and understand the ground realities.”
The consular teams regularly visited these agencies during their weekend tours for rendering consular services up to Dec. 31, 2008.
Their purpose was to inspect the collection centers of the outsourcing agencies and also to hear from the public their suggestions for improvement.
The consul general, who now heads such tours, conducted his first visit to Madinah on Feb. 19-20. He will next tour Najran from Feb. 26-27.
