Continuing with Government of India’s drive of reaching out to Indian diaspora in New Zealand, the newly opened Consulate Office in Auckland held a meet and greet event with several community leaders on Friday, November 17.
The purpose of the event was to reach out to the members of the local community organisations and associations, and spread the word around about services being offered by the new Consulate Office.
The Honorary Consul of India, Bhav Dhillon, used the opportunity to talk individually to several people present in the room and clear doubts around services being currently offered from Auckland office, apart from the official part of the event.
The official part of the event included brief speeches from Kiwi-Indian Member of Parliament Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Dr Parmjeet Parmar (third MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan had to be in Wellington), community leaders including Bhiku Bhana, President New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA), Harshad Patel QSM from Auckland Indian Association and Suresh Ramji, President of Manukau Indian Association now known as Indian Association of New Zealand.
A long awaited and welcome move
The oft-repeated theme of the evening was a recall of the long wait for the opening of consular services in New Zealand’s biggest city.
Almost everyone who spoke on the occasion revisited down their memory lane to recall about the long cherished expectations within the Indian community in Auckland for opening an office in Auckland.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr Bakshi acknowledged that there was an immediate decline in the number of phone calls and visitors at his office in Papatoetoe after the opening of new Consulate office.
“There has been a notable fall in the number of phone calls and visitors that our office receives, especially from the elderly people who had to previously travel to Wellington for their life certificates.
“In that sense we are thankful to Mr Dhillon for sharing the burden, although our office is always open to help members of our community,” Mr Bakshi said amidst a loud cheer from the guests.
Bikhu Bhana, president NZICA travelled back to almost 40 years down his memory lane recalling the earliest demands of opening an office in Auckland.
“On behalf of Indian diaspora in NZ I would like to congratulate the High Commission of India and Honorary Consul Bhav Dhillon for fulfilling a long felt need of the community.
“I myself have been fighting for this demand since last 40 years.”
“I am confident that Mr Dhillon is a worthy appointment to this position and will do full justice to the expectations of the community,” Mr Bhana said.
Echoing similar views, Suresh Ramji, President of Indian Association of New Zealand also welcomed the opening of new Consulate office.
“This is a welcome move and I fully support it on behalf of Indian Association of NZ,” Mr Ramji said.
Many other community leaders were appreciative of the convenient location of the new office in Onehunga.
“The office is very conveniently located in Onehunga,” said Kalyan Rao Kasungati, president of Telangana Association of NZ.
Digital-India making connect with Indian diaspora
Another prominent theme of the evening was a spotlight on the growing bilateral relations between NZ and India and how the Digital India programme of the current government was attracting the global Indian diaspora.
Mr Dhillon took the opportunity to emphasise on the rising-India story and ways in which digital India drive was transforming governance and service delivery to its people, particularly to the Indian diaspora.
“I have been told that on several occasions, the Indian government has been able to issue e-visa within hours, and not days.
“This is difficult to match even by many developed countries, including NZ,” Mr Dhillon said enthusiastically about the rising-India story.
“I can assure you all that this office will continue to reflect the winds of changes blowing in India and reach out to the members of our diaspora community, offering them the best services. Mr Dhillon further added.
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