RIYADH — Since the beginning of the grace period so far 359,997 Indians have transferred their services, 355,035 Indians have changed their job titles and 466,689 Indians have renewed their licenses. These official figures were given to the Indian Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao by the authorities. The Indian envoy used this opportunity to thank all concerned for working in unison to help their fellow countrymen in their time of need and also warned all to avail the grace period to become legal residents here. The ambassador said the mission has been approached by 88,737 persons for Emergency Certificates, while 5,956 have collected their Huroob passports from the Embassy and 2,091 have renewed their old ECs. The number of Indians, who have been sent on final exit is also impressive, he said, adding, though there is still more work to be done. “Let me begin by thanking Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for announcing the grace period in April and then further extending it till November 3. “Many of our fellow Indians have been able to use the concessions announced by the Ministries of labor and interior. Let me thank the many Kingdom officials, at all levels, who helped our people to correct their status. They always had time to meet us, listen to us and initiate action on our several suggestions and requests. We deeply appreciate their work and their support,” Rao said. “In this endeavor, the Embassy always had the partnership of the Indian community here. You served the community well as non-remunerative volunteers. Your role as volunteers, as media personnel, as members of the managing committees of our schools, as principals and teachers, as non teaching staff of our schools, as parents, as students, as interpreters in various government offices has helped us to meet the challenges. I thank our lady volunteers and also the spouses of our volunteers for their contributions,” he said. “I recall the efforts of our volunteers when all our press releases were translated to multiple languages in no time. So many multiple-language booklets were prepared and distributed throughout the Kingdom. We used the Internet and social media effectively. Our Indian community schools all across Saudi Arabia were focal points of our efforts,” he added. “I thank the media both the Saudi media and Indian media who spread our message all across the Kingdom and beyond. During the initial days of grace period, when we understood the magnitude of the problem and began addressing the issues, we found you as our willing partners. Today you are the eyes and ears of the Embassy in our efforts to reach out to our brothers and sisters in distress,” Rao said. “In a large community with a working population of over two million it is only natural that we face several challenges on a day-to-day basis. We will address these challenges together with the support of our friends in the Kingdom.” “All that we have been able to achieve during the grace period, we did it by fully adhering to the rules and regulations of this country. We will do nothing that violates the rules and regulations of this country. Every action that we take here, every event that we organize here, every suggestion that we make here should be within the rules and regulations of this country. We will continue to behave responsibly and take up our concerns with the leadership of this country,” Rao said. “The journey that we undertook together so far has helped us to transcend sectarian, religious, regional and language barriers and brought in a new and enduring unity within the community that we cherish. We have demonstrated how our unity in diversity works. This has yielded remarkable results. “However, it is not the time just to congratulate each other or praise each other. We are not there yet. It is time to rededicate ourselves once again to our objective. This is a solemn pledge that we took in April 2013 at the beginning of the grace period. At the end of the grace period all Indians in the Kingdom will be legal in his or her status,” Rao stressed. “It is time for a replay of our efforts. All Embassy officials are ready for it. We look forward to your continued support and participation in our efforts. I need to get your suggestions. We need to go to the small cities, towns and villages of this large country to spread the message of grace period. We do not have much time left,” he added. “You have been everywhere, at the Embassy, at tarheels, at airports, at labor offices, at schools, at labor camps, at small villages and even at remote areas. We are still at the tarheels together every day. I urge you to continue to travel to the small cities, towns, villages and beyond to spread the message of grace period. Our officers are ready to travel with you,” Rao added. “We will continue to take up with the concerned authorities each and every case that you bring to our notice. We will reactivate our helpdesks at airports, we will set up helpdesks in our community schools, we will set up EC centers at Dammam and at other places, we will work round the clock and we will follow up on each of the cases with the concerned authorities. We have a major task at hand. Together we will meet the target.” Rao took this opportunity to urge those who have not availed the concessions offered by the Saudi authorities to come forward. “This is our last chance to correct the legal status or to leave the country without facing penal action. We still have time, but very little time. We need to use every minute available to us. Please come forward and correct yourself. We are ready to help you. I am confident that we will be able to find a solution,” he said. — SG
