After receiving a very good response from the ongoing special Indian visa camp ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the Indian High Commission has announced to arrange another such camp within a few months. “There has been overwhelming response. As many as 10,000 people were in queues in a day,” Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Harsh Vardhan Shringla told a news briefing at the new Indian Chancery in the capital yesterday.
“This is the first, not the last. There will be another such camp within next few months,” he said.
The special Eid camp began on June 4 and will run till June 16. During this period, Indian visa seekers will be able to submit their applications with necessary documents without e-tokens.
The Indian envoy informed that about 50,000 to 60,000 people would be issued one-year multiple visa during this period.
The issuance of these visas is in addition to the visas issues by 11 IVACs (Indian Visa Application Centre), he added.
In the remaining days of the ongoing camp, efforts are being made to increase working hours as well as capabilities to issue visas to the maximum number of people, Shringla said.
To a question, he said that such special visa camps may be organised in places other than Dhaka and lessons that were learnt in the ongoing camp would be used in arranging future camps.
Asked if India is considering introduction of on-arrival visas, given the huge demand among Bangladeshis, the High Commissioner said that there are many measures under consideration which need a fair amount of work.
“We are considering several measures that will reduce the pressure on the visa system,” he said, adding that he could not disclose the nature of the measures as they were yet to reach any conclusion on those efforts.
To another query, the envoy said that one of the main purposes of such a camp is to get rid of any agent from the visa process.