Lack of parking space annoys visitors at Indian Embassy centre

Manama : Without enough parking facilities, the Indian Embassy’s outsourcing agency at Abi Obadiah Avenue in the heart of Manama is causing inconvenience to the visitors . 

The Indian passport and visa application centre was shifted to the ground floor of the Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo Building at Bab Al Bahrain to function from December 20 last year. The outsourcing agency manages visa and passport applications for the Indian Embassy. But as the agency functioning on a one-way traffic area has not provided additional parking facility, visitors coming to the centre are finding it difficult to park their vehicles. 

The outsourcing agency is visited by hundreds of applicants daily but it has reportedly failed to provide proper seating arrangements for the visitors and also separate toilet facilities for gents and ladies. 

The visitors also complain that the centre is functioning without computer systems and internet facility. 

The Embassy has out sourced services such as issue of passports, renewal of passports, birth registration, miscellaneous passport services and issue of police clearance certificates and other certificates. 

It is to be noted that the embassy caters to the requirement of about 3.5 lakh Indian nationals residing in the Kingdom. In this context the facilities offered to the prospective applicants at the service centre is far from satisfactory, said the customers. On busy days, applicants have to wait for hours to fill in the forms as well as to clarify doubts regarding the procedures. An Indian Embassy official said the Embassy will look into the quality of services provided by the outsourcing agency.