Source: TV Asia Bureau
NEW JERSEY: TV Asia, the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) of NY-NJ-CT and the Indian Consulate in New York, hosted a community outreach program at the TV Asia auditorium in Edison, NJ on Dec 20.
Sandeep Chakravorty, India’s newly-appointed Consul General in New York, patiently answered questions by members of the community. The “Ask Your Consul General” event was broadcast live on TV Asia’s Facebook page and was recorded as well on multiple-cameras, to be telecast on TV Asia for the extended benefit of the community in the US, Canada and worldwide.
H R Shah, chairman and CEO of TV Asia, introduced Consul General Chakravorty, recounting his recent interactions with Ambassador Chakravorty and how he came away impressed with the “remarkable and brilliant young man.”
The community outreach program by the Consulate was attended by other officials of the Indian Consulate as well as Vandana Sharma, Air India’s Regional-Manager for Americas; officials of CKGS Application Support Center; Ramesh Patel, FIA chairman; Andy Bhatia, FIA president and Srujal Parikh, FIA president-elect, among others.
After introductions and remarks, the question-answer format followed a town-hall style interaction, where a TV Asia host moderated questions from the audience.
Consul General Sandeep Chakravorty, right, at a community outreach program, hosted by TV Asia, the FIA and the Indian Consulate at the TV Asia auditorium.Consul General Chakraborty explained that the Indian Consulate was organizing outreach programs for the Indian community in different US cities since 2015 on consular, economic, cultural, banking and tourism matters. The outreach program, he added, provided a platform to the community about the activities of the Consulate as well as interact on issues directly relevant to them.
“In our jurisdiction of 10 states, we have more than 2 million Indian Americans, and therefore, our Consulate in New York is the largest and the busiest Indian Consulate in the world,” Chakravorty said responding to a question.
More than 200 guests attended the outreach event, asking the Consul General a variety of questions ranging from OCI applications and one-way travel documents to delays in visa issuance and the customer service at CKCG Application support center for the Indian Consulate.
Consul General Chakravorty, 47, who assumed charge in New York in August 2017, was previously India’s Ambassador to Peru. The 1996 Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer replaced Riva Ganguly Das as Consul General in one of the busiest Indian diplomatic missions overseas.
Speakers at the event also lauded the Consul General’s pleasing demeanor and humility and the willingness to extend help on all matters of concern to the Indian American community.
A section of the audience at the event