E-Paper
Why Sushma Swaraj has to intervene so often, even on common issues
Why is it that for the myriad problems Indian nationals face the foreign minister has to intervene? Do our systems work only if there’s VIP intervention?
‘Your name will be written in history in letters of gold’ said a grateful man on twitter after external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj stepped in to help get him an urgently needed passport. Indeed, Ms Swaraj’s penchant and ability to help fellow Indians, whether in India or abroad, sort out a myriad of problems bears no repeating now. It could be a visa, an intervention with a foreign government for a domestic worker who is in difficulty, tourists who have been stranded, a person who has lost her documents and recently a foreign national who had trouble getting her marriage registered in India.
This is laudable but begs the question as to why it takes the external affairs minister’s efforts to clear what should be common and garden issues. Surely getting a marriage registered should take no more than a local official to get things moving. This seems to suggest that the institutions that should routinely be dealing with many of these issues are simply not working or are holding back for want of some consideration or the other.
In the case of Indians abroad for whom Ms Swaraj has intervened repeatedly, the primary responsibility for them vests with the embassies. Are we to assume that they do not entertain complaints or requests from Indians as a matter of course?
In the event of a large-scale evacuation, Ms Swaraj’s involvement may be necessary, but day-to-day issues should not even figure on the foreign minister’s agenda. Ms Swaraj’s remit is far broader; she is in charge of policy and should not have to function as the go-to person for matters which should be sorted out at the local level whether in India or abroad. In the latest case of a Brazilian woman who had difficulty registering her marriage to an Indian national, that Ms Swaraj smoothed the path should not obscure the fact that there should be an inquiry into why this was not done in the first place within a stipulated time.
The passport offices across India are meant to issue passports and guide people on how to deal with any complication that could arise in the course of acquiring, renewing or re-issuing them without the might of the foreign minister. This is what should be worrying — that systems don’t work unless a VIP pushes them.
It is heartening that Ms Swaraj is so accessible and ready to help. But this should not mask the fact that institutions meant to help people are falling down on their jobs. The next time she is called upon to exercise her good offices, she would be well within her right to ask the institution in question what prevented it from discharging its duty. It is a matter of comfort to know that we have Ms Swaraj’s assurance that even if an Indian were to face a problem on Mars help would come from her ministry. But on more down-to-earth matters, those tasked with the job should not hold up things for no rhyme or reason necessitating intervention from the highest quarter.
