Washington: The Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC) has complained to the Indian government about the functioning of the visa processing service provider at its diplomatic missions in the US and sought immediate intervention of External Affairs Minister in resolving the issue. An INOC delegation recently met Ministers of State for External Affairs E Ahamed and Preneet Kaur in New Delhi to submit a memorandum. In a statement, the INOC alleged that the Indian community and other travellers in the US, particularly in New York, are facing tremendous hardship due to the grossly inefficient and deplorable service relating to issuance and renewal of passports and visas for travel to India.

"Unfortunately, the atmosphere has deteriorated so badly that travellers often cannot travel on due dates of travel, due to documents being lost or misplaced and most of the time no timely response is received from them," the INOC-US said in its memorandum. "Chronic delays are the order of the day and the whole operation is so disorganised and in disarray that only some people seem to receive satisfactory services. There are widespread rumours that no work gets done unless a bribe is paid. In a situation like this, you can appreciate that there is no need to wait until a scandal breaks out," the memorandum alleged. "We have been candid to the ministers of the damage the agency has done to the reputation and credibility of India," said George Abraham, chairman of the INOC US.