RIYADH — The Indian Embassy reached out to the diaspora here in the Eastern province Friday evening at the Indian school premises. Speaking to the audience in a very positive interactive session, Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao stressed that Indians are law abiding people, and wished to uphold the local laws in both letter and spirit. “We are fully seized of the seriousness of the matters as well as the nature of almost all the types of problems that exist,” he said, adding that they have all come together to listen to the problems of the Indian community members first hand. “We want social workers and other fellow citizens to put up their hands for sharing in the efforts to mitigate the plight of their unfortunate brethren who are now in trouble,” said Rao. He told the audience to respect the three-month grace period given by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. “Do not wait for the time to finish. This is the time to be honest to yourself and get your status corrected or else be prepared to leave. “We are preparing ourselves to find solutions for your problems, to the extent that we are seeking legal advice for more complicated matters,” Rao said. In response to a specific query related to the status of the teachers in the Indian schools, he said: “No doubt we Indians enjoy wonderful bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia and the local authorities have been extremely cooperative in all matters, including the exemption of all the ten Indian Schools from Nitaqat. However, teachers will need to transfer their Iqama (residence permit) to the school and the authorities are more than willing to help us on this matter as well,” the ambassador said. Sibi George, the DCM, advised the audience to kindly pass the message to their friends and acquaintances that they need to make the best use of this grace period. “It is important that we do not run away from the problem.” If one is violating the local rules, then he should try to redress the problem by writing his problem and putting it in the dropbox kept in the Indian school. If the nature of the matter is serious then they may contact the embassy in Riyadh or write at [email protected], George said. “This interactive session is an ongoing process and the embassy officials shall be visiting the region again to ensure that progress is made and we make the best use of the grace period,” he added. Mohammad Siddiq, a prominent entrepreneur and a social worker, said: “This move gives us a lot of confidence and we feel that the community in the Eastern province will respond to the call suitably.” Yunus Ahmed, another social worker and a businessman, said: “We will meet to find ways to reach out to the workers who may be in the interiors of the region. We take this as our opportunity to serve both Saudi Arabia and India.” Anis Baksh, who came from Jubail, said: “This visit by the ambassador will galvanize the entire community into action as we can see the earnestness and the seriousness of the ambassador and his staff.” — SG
