SF Consulate Announces New Measures on R-Day

SAN FRANCISCO — Sushmita Ganguli Thomas, India’s consul general for the western United States, presided over a cheerful Republic Day celebration at the scenic Palace of Fine Arts Jan. 26.

“So many of you are abroad, but you still have the love for India in your hearts,” Thomas told the invitation-only VIP gathering.

Thomas took the opportunity to highlight some of the initiatives she’s launched at the consulate since taking the helm a year ago.

In a move to improve the consulate’s customer service, the staff has been directed to do its best to reply to e-mail inquiries within one business day. “We make an effort to reply to 900 to 1,000 e-mails a day,” she explained.

Closed-circuit TV cameras placed inside the consulate building at 540 Arguello Blvd. will also make it easier to resolve customer service complaints and enhance security, she said.

One of the most eagerly awaited developments will be electronic monitoring of Indian passport applications, with a new software application created just for the consulate by Siddarth Gaonkar of San Jose, Calif. “I’m proud and honored to do that for them,” Gaonkar told India-West, adding that the new system should be up and running by Feb. 1. Other Indian consulates around the country may also adopt the new system, he said.

“We kept getting it pointed out by the public that they were rightly anxious about their passport applications,” Thomas told India-West. “We put our minds to solving the problem.”

In her remarks, Thomas obliquely referred to a high-profile and dramatic breach of security that occurred in 2007, under the leadership of then-Consul General B.S. Prakash, in which passport and visa applications and other sensitive documents were found dumped in a San Francisco recycling center.

“A short while ago, we faced an issue,” said Thomas. “All of you were extremely helpful” in patching up the consulate’s relations with the international community, she said.

Thomas also honored a notable local Indian American, Prof. Thomas Kailath, who had just learned that he had been awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Indian government. Kailath, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford, told India-West that “It was great” getting the news last week that he’d been selected for the honor.

In 2007, Kailath received the Medal of Honor from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s largest technical professional society.

“I’ve also been fortunate to have maintained contact with the technical community in India,” said Kailath, who was instrumental in helping to develop India’s air defense systems as far back as the 1970s.

Representatives from the offices of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom were also on hand to honor India on its 60th Republic Day, and guests were treated to performances by U.C. Berkeley’s Dil Se a cappella group and by Chhandam, the Bay Area classical dance school founded by Chitresh Das.