 |
Los Angeles Bids Farewell to Consul General Susmita Thomas
Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) in association with National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA), Federation of Indo-American Associations of Southern California (FIA) and India Association of Los Angeles (IALA) held a farewell dinner for Ambassador Susmita Thomas, Consul General of India, San Francisco at the Royal Delhi Palace Banquet Hall, West Hills. The dinner was attended by over 150 people. Several community leaders, Padam Shree Mani Bhaumik, Cypress City Councilman Dr. Narayan, heads and members of the above four organizations and many members of the community from all walks of life attended the event.
CLICK FOR BIGGER VIEW
IALA president Bobby Kumar welcomed Consul General Susmita Thomas. He gave brief history of IALA and said that the celebration of India Independence Day in the San Fernando Valley has been attracting over 10,000 people annually. He mentioned that IALA is the only organization in Southern California which had India’s ambassador Meera Shankar as the chief guest in the last year’s celebration. FIA chair Anju Garg while praising the consul general for her links with the community, pleaded for a consular office in Los Angeles. FIA president Rajinder Dhunna compared the consul general with important women leaders in India like Mamta Bannerji, Sheila Dixit, Aonia Gandhi, etc. Cypress City Councilman Dr. Prakash Narayan who had attended Consul General’s community outreach meeting last year, praised her the way she explained the stringent regulations for the grant of visa to the belligerent crowd. Gursharan Nat narrated his own impressions about his visits to San Francisco Consulate and how he got changed from having negative thinking about the working of the consulate to becoming an admirer of the Consul General.
GOPIO Chairman Inder Singh said that obtaining Indian visa was never a problem in the past. At monthly Visa camps in Los Angeles, 400 visas were issued within a few hours. Consul General and senior staff members were more engaged in promoting business, tourism, or reaching out to the community for issues pertaining to India in the US Congress.
Inder Singh stated that the new restrictions for the grant of visa to India imposed in May 2010 triggered resentment and obtaining visa became nightmare. GOPIO got the fee for surrender certificate reduced and some penalties eliminated, but that did not ease the continuing problem. The consulate staff however had no options except to follow the rigid instructions imposed by India’s Home Ministry. He however praised Consul General Thomas who tried to apply the new rules more humanely.
Inder Singh urged Ambassador Thomas to get the rules for visa relaxed and to make the process work smoothly. The expatriates should be free to visit India. It is good for people to maintain links with their motherland. He concluded by saying that these are the people who collectively contributed to India's transformation into a modern economy and that these are the people who sent over $55 billion to India in 2010 as foreign remittances. The huge sum is good for India’s economy; it is good for Indian people.
Ambassador Susmita Thomas thanked the organizers for the farewell dinner. She told that her assignment as the Consul General of India in San Francisco has been very challenging. She was obligated to follow the new rules but she also had responsibility to the needs of people for consular services. Her workload had increased manifold but her staff strength stayed the same. Still her staff strived very hard to provide consular services people deserved. During the week, she would ensure that that applicants are served properly while during the weekend, she would travel to various places in her jurisdiction for face-to-face interaction with the community.
NFIA Vice President Ashok Madan called upon all the event co-chairs and presented a coffee table book on Los Angeles with signatures and comments from several people. Vinod Manchhani gave note of thanks mentioning all those who contributed to the organization and success of the farewell program. He thanked the media and TV Asia for attending the event.
|
