Jharsuguda : Non Resident Odia’s residing at Dubai , bid farewell to Consul General of India Mr. Vipul. Seniors of Expatriate Group �GOOD� � Global Odias for Odisha�s Development met Consul General of India, Dubai, and gave him a warm goodbye.
Mr. Vipul , an officer of the 1998 batch of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), has a strong link with Odisha. He started his career as an employee of the Rourkela Steel Plant. He was based in Rourkela for around 6 months.
He is leaving Dubai after a 3-year stint. A three-member delegation of GOOD comprising of professionals of Odia origin led by Capt. Soumya Ranjan Patnaik (CEO of a leading Shipping Company), Priyadarshee Panigrahi (General Manager of a leading Indian FMCG Company) and, Rajesh Tripathy (General Manager of a Global Business School) met with him.
The delegation presented him with a piece of �SambalpuriJatha� along with a citation detailing out his achievements during his service.
He has been a very popular Consul General and is widely believed to be a very accessible and responsive diplomat. He has handled many crises with panache and has gone out of the way to help Indians in calamities.
He supported the demand for the establishment of regular air connectivity to the newly inaugurated Jharsuguda airport by pursuing it with the Central Government in 2018. His support to this attracted wide media attention and helped in a great manner to establish regular connectivity to Veer Surendra Sai (VSS) airport.
He was also instrumental in facilitating many direct charter flights carrying distressed and stuck Odias from UAE to Bhubaneswar. These flights were organized by various Odia Community Associations of the UAE. Mr Vipul was supportive of the idea to install a portrait of Veer Surendra Sai in the Indian Consulate.
In his address, Vipul said he had an instant connection with the Odia Community because of his stint in RSP. He was very happy to see a very vibrant and active Odia Community in the UAE, said he was always happy to connect with Odias on occasions and festivals like Utkal Divas and Nuakhai. He wished the Community all success.
As per Capt. Patnaik, who has been in Dubai for the past 16 years, Mr Vipul brought in a breath of fresh air. He remained accessible and approachable to the entire Indian diaspora living here. Capt. Patnaik added that Mr Vipul made genuine efforts towards the welfare of the community without any discrimination based on religion, caste, creed, income.
Priyadarshee Panigrahi reminisced that Mr Vipul was always supportive of any cause that the community members brought up to him. His support to establish regular air connectivity to Jharsuguda Airport and in popularizing �Nuakhai� festival is indeed appreciated. Priyadarshee also thanked Mr Vipul for making the Indian Consulate a very responsive setup, making it reach out to Indians in need of help, very swiftly.
