Our effort has been to make sure that no Indian remains illegal after Nov. 3

I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all Indian nationals, persons of Indian origin, friends and well wishers of India residing in the western province of Saudi Arabia on the occasion of the 67th Independence Day of India.
On this auspicious day, we all remember with deep sense of gratitude and pride the struggle and sacrifices made by our freedom fighters to liberate India. Today, India is revered as the largest secular democracy and a unique example of peaceful coexistence in a pluralistic society.
India and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong economic and cultural relations and people to people contacts. The visit of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to India in January 2006 and that of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia in February 2010 heralded a new era in Indo-Saudi relations.
The signing of the Delhi and Riyadh declarations by the two leaders on the two occasions provided a strong framework for strategic partnership between the two countries in security, defence, political and economic fields.
They, through their diligence and high sense of discipline, have earned the faith and goodwill of the host country and have emerged as a vibrant and dynamic section of the Saudi civil society. I take this opportunity to acknowledge their contribution and thank them for building the brand image of India.
I would like to make a special mention here of the Royal Amnesty granted by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to the expatriate population who are residing in the Kingdom without proper documentation to help them correct their status or leave the country with dignity. Consequently, there began a massive exercise of correction of status by Indian workers. Huge queues for Emergency Certificates (ECs) were to be seen at the consulate premises. However, with carefully coordinated network of planning and implementation, we were able to handle the unprecedented rush. We issued approximately 25,000 ECs in a record time of one and a half month by working almost round the clock since the announcement of the Amnesty in April 2013. By virtue of our concerted efforts, more than 6700 persons have been fingerprinted at Jeddah Deportation Center till Eid break out of which more than 4000 persons have been granted exit visa. It is expected that most of them would have exited the Kingdom by now. On the other hand, we have issued passports on priority basis to thousands of Indian workers who have sought correction of their status by change of sponsorship, change of profession etc. Our endeavor has been to ensure that no Indian remains illegal in Saudi Arabia after Nov. 3, 2013 (when the extended grace period expires). The Amnesty provided great help to the expatriates and brought blessings for them. I take this opportunity to thank the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud for this kind gesture and pray for his long life. I also thank the Ministries of Labor and Interior and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry for extending round the clock help and guidance to us during the period.
In this gigantic task, the Consulate General was assisted by a host of Indian community members and volunteers in Jeddah and in other cities of the western province. Indian community schools have also extended a helping hand to us in this regard. I take this opportunity to thank them all. I would also like to use the occasion to make an appeal to all my countrymen who have been affected by the Nitaqat programme to use this lifetime opportunity and correct their residency status or leave the Kingdom with dignity before expiry of the grace period.
In order to provide further help to our fellow countrymen in finding suitable employment for them, we organized two major job fairs which were attended by about 200 companies and resulted in employment of more than 3,000 Indian workers. In addition to this, more than 50 local employers had set up their recruitment desks on a regular basis at the Consulate premises during April to June 2013 which helped a lot of job seekers.
As regards Haj, about 1,36,000 pilgrims are expected to come from India to perform Haj 2013. Elaborate arrangements are being made for their transportation, accommodation and medical needs in addition to overall logistical arrangements to make the Haj of these pilgrims as smooth and comfortable as possible. The first flight from India is scheduled to arrive in the Kingdom on Sept. 7, 2013. I expect full cooperation from members of the Indian community and the voluntary organizations as in previous years. I take this opportunity to thank all the Saudi authorities for their excellent cooperation, as usual, in putting our various arrangements in place for the forthcoming Haj. At the same time, I wish the Government of Saudi Arabia all the best for a smooth and successful conduction of the Haj 2013 operations.
The Consulate General of India, Jeddah, remains committed to the wellbeing of the Indian Diaspora in this part of the Kingdom and to provide them the best and the fastest possible services through its various organs.
Jai Hind.

Faiz Ahmad Kidwai
Consul General of India