The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), has tightened the rules for selecting partner visas and consular services to the Indian diaspora and foreign visitors, in order to curb predatory pricing, reported the HT.

The MEA’s commitment towards serving the Indian migrants and foreign visitors to India, with the vision to strengthen the image and reputation of India, along with making the services more robust, seamless and reliable is the reason for the implementation of these changes.

The transformation changes would result not only in robust and reliable services, but is also to enhance the reputation and Image of India on the global stage.

Indian Missions of the MEA is the first station of contact for anybody – travelers to India, foreigners or Indian Citizens or Person of Indian origin, thus a significant touch point, so it is unavoidable that the services offered should be of superior quality, efficient and cost-effective. The delivering of such services would become the face of the country.

The changes initiated by the MEA to counter predatory prices was lauded by the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).

TAAI President, Jyoti Mayal, said on this, “the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has embarked on a transformational program to reform and strengthen its tendering and evaluation process in a holistic manner to select the right outsourced service providers. While the focus lies on L1 pricing, there is a strong emphasis on the four pillars of Quality Services, Sustainable and Viable Price, Data Protection and Security, and Ethical Practices and Integrity.”

As the government is working towards the promise of a new India at the global level, she also added that, it was important that first impression should be ‘impeccable’. MEA and its missions being the real representatives of the Government of India to the world, the focus, at first should be on offering superior, efficient, and cost-effective services, she said.

Further, she added that as India was headed towards a ‘high momentum growth period’, it was crucial to take care of factors obstructing growth and risks which could bring damage to the reputation and image of India. Thus, it is imperative that the government should focus on the quality, reliability and credibility of the service providers, otherwise, “else failure in service levels can erode confidence and trust in the government’s capabilities, leading to public dissatisfaction.”

This move of the MEA on focusing on the quality is also indicative of the prudent use of public resources and also that through this, the citizens could receive the optimum value for their money.