Use of Indian Embassy Abroad
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in Interesting Complaints
Mr. Ramchandra Karkare was employed as Deputy Advertising Manager by a firm called Dar Al-Fajr, Abu Dhabi, from December, 1979. On 21 December 1981, he left Abu Dhabi to meet a client in Dubai. On the highway his car met with an accident and he died on the spot. Mr. Ramchandra was married and had three children. His old parents were in Mangalore. He was the only bread-winner in the family.
Mr. Ramachandra’s body was flown to India. The expense, as is usual in all cases when a foreign national dies on duty, was borne by the company. Mrs. Sushilaben Karkare and the children also returned home with the body.
An insurance amount of Dirhams 35,000 was due to Mr. Karkare’s heirs. His insurance claim, though granted, was not paid to his widow even after the highest executive of the company had been approached. In Indian currency the amount was equivalent (roughly) to Rs. 1,21,100/-.
Dar Al-Fajr, however, stated that “We haven’t received the amount from the insurance company. As soon as we do, we’ll send it over. Till then, as a token of good faith, here are three signed but undated cheques for a total of Dirhams 35,000″. Mrs. Karkare took this on face value and trusted the company. But till June, 1986, she did not receive one paise from Dar Al-Fajr. She had spent a lot on correspondence until Dar Al-Fajr stopped acknowledging her letters.
In June, 1986, Mrs. Karkare approached CERS for help. The first thing it did was to write to Dar Al-Fajr, but there was no reply.
CERS wrote to the Consulate General of the United Arab Emirates, Bombay. It suggested that CERS contact the Consulate General of India, Dubai. This was done on 7 October 1986.
That often abused and maligned institution, the Indian Embassy, surpassed itself. It wrote letters to Dar Al-Fajr and sent reminders.
On 14 February 1987, Mrs. Karkare received a copy of a letter written by Dar Al-Fajr to National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi. A sum in Indian rupees equivalent to Dh. 3,000 per month was transferred by mail with effect from March 1987 to January, 1988. Mrs. Karkare received Dh. 33,000 (about Rs. 1,14,000/-). The payment was made to her in respect of death compensation of her husband, the late Ramachandra Karkare.
