Public diplomacy through flawless service: Ambassador Mulay's success story

Though Dnyaneshwar Mulay has taken charge as consul general in New York only two years ago, people feel that he has been around for a long time! It may be due to the Mulay magic that transformed the relationship between the consulate and the people.

He feels that he has created a positive atmosphere at the consulate making it a part of the community and accessible to the people. “The consulate’s relation with the community is not based on issuing visa and passports, which is only a part of our work. The relation is much deeper than that. Our aim is to create an atmosphere where the people feel that they are part of it.’’

“We dismantled the standard practice of inviting a selected few to the programs at the consulate. Instead, people can ask to come to attend the events. They only need to send an email showing their interest. The move clicked. People suddenly found that the doors of the consulate are not impenetrable anymore.”

Mulay said he wanted an interactive dialogue between India and the US for improving economic relations, in which the community plays a vital role. The community played an exemplary role during the visit of Prime Minister Modi.

Mulay noted a few flagship initiatives he kicked off to reform the consulate. One was starting new conversations about various aspects of our heritage. The lecture series, which is part of this, focus on areas like culture, sports, film, literature and more. “When tennis star Leander Paes gave a lecture, it was a new experience for most of us as he opened the world of sports before us.”

The consulate is celebrating the culture and life of one or two states of India every month inviting local people from that state to attend or host the events special to the states and introduce the cuisine.

Under another major initiative titled ‘Consulate at your Doorstep’ the consul general along with officers would visit one  state under its jurisdiction every month. Representatives of the banks, tourism, Air India, and USIBC among others are also part of the team. The delegation calls on the state governor, mayor, congressmen and engages the community at large besides holding visa passport services camp.

Comparing his previous assignment as ambassador to Maldives, he said the work in New York is different. Since Maldives is a neighboring country with strategic importance, the work there was mainly political. In US, the political work is done at embassy level in DC, his focus is on economic relations, since New York is the financial capital as is Mumbai.

The consulate also handles the largest number of consular services, about 250,000, which is more than any other consulate. It interacts with the largest and perhaps most empowered diaspora.

He agreed that there were many problems as regards visa/passports services, but things have dramatically improved  now. The helpline of the consulate works well. People facing problems at Cox and Kings or at BLS can call the helpline and the deputy consul general will attend their grievances. “The trust deficit has been removed by making services efficient, transparent and people friendly. We cannot satisfy all. Since we do not make the law, we cannot break it too.”

He said he is aware of the problems faced by people living without proper immigration documents. “There is no problem to renew their passports, if it expired recently and they have taken steps to regularize their stay. But without any documents, one will not get passports immediately. Their applications will be sent to India for verification and only if we get the go ahead from India we can act.

“Our approach in all these cases is very sympathetic. We hear their grievances and direct them to do whatever is needed. People should strictly avoid getting into the traps of agents and brokers selling forged documents at huge prices. Once caught such passports will be cancelled.”

The CKGS and BLS are monitored on an hourly basis for better services. “We cannot allow inefficiency or malpractices. People should always pay only prescribed fees and should demand receipts.”

“Earlier the consulate used to receive 40-50 complains on a daily basis. It has shrunk to 2-3 and on many days we get ​ no calls too.”

Rather than complaining, people now appreciate the work. He proudly showed a bound volume of commendations about the work of CKGS and BLS collected in 15 days.

“The recent simplification of the consular services including unification of the PIO and OCI and E Visa or E Tourist Visa has had major positive impact on tourism, India’s image and bilateral relations,” he noted.

He said the merger of OCI and PIO cards has no impact on those already holding OCI cards. The PIO card holders shall be getting all the facilities of the OCI.

When the government starts issuing new cards named Indian Overseas Card cards, those holding OCI cards can still use it. So far the government has not announced any decision on this.​

He said he is not aware of ‘T’ visa (trafficking victims) holders being denied travel facility from Indian airports or their passports being impounded. Presently, T-visa holders are not given passport facilities and their cases are referred to ministry for clearance.  

Recently, relatives of T visa holders held a protest rally in front of the Houston consulate protesting the denial of foreign travel for T visa holders in India. They accused that the government of India changed the rule after former diplomat Dr Devyani Khobragde’s maid and family got ‘T’ visas accusing her of trafficking.

Mulay said in many cases misuse of  â€˜T’ visa has been noticed, which is why care is being taken to scrutinize each case. ​ 

He feels happy of the ‘cleaning’ process he initiated at the consulate. The Swatch Consulate program was part of the Swatch Bharat’ program kicked off by the prime minister. Old records were digitized and 20,000 square feet area was cleared. Of this 10,000 sq ft t will be made available to the community for various programs. The consulate is a 111 year old historic landmark and it contained lot of records and other things accumulated over the decades.

Mulay noted many Americans lack much information about India affecting our tourism prospects. They do not know the diversity of India, which is the main reason for the small number of tourists. “We want to create awareness about the diversity of the country, where snow clad mountains, deserts, valleys, bird and animal sanctuaries and beaches exist along with people with different languages, customs, dresses and food. India is the only country having lions and tigers.”

The consulate is also open for the youngsters to conduct exhibitions and events free of charge. It is not easy to get such a prime location in Manhattan for free.

A permanent art gallery at the consulate, where artists can showcase their works for longer period is his aim. Internship opportunities are also available for young people, who can study the work of the consulate or about the community. So far six college students took advantage of the program that lasts 6-8 weeks. One intern studied the consular process and suggested ways to reduce unnecessary or duplicating of processes.

Mulay, a noted writer, said he writes mainly in Marathi and Hindi now. His column regularly appears in noted Marathi weekly Sadhna. He writes on all subjects, except politics.

His wife and two sons are in India while his daughter is a student for MPA at Columbia.

The most challenging thing during the assignment was the visit of the prime minister and organizing it flawlessly, he said. Though consulate was not the only entity worked for it, it has the responsibility to make the event an exceptional one, an example of the excellence of India. “In the US events are planned years before, but we got only a few months time. We had to ensure that a transparent system was followed in inviting guests and distributing tickets among other things.”

Another major problem he faced was when the CKGS took over the visa services from BLS. It created lot of head ache during the transition inviting criticism.

As for the incident involving Dr Devyani Khobraagde, he said it was unfortunate that it happened at all.