NEW DELHI: Days after being discharged from hospital after a kidney transplant, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj has put her helping gloves back on. Today, Ms Swaraj helped a man in Canada reach the Indian Consulate in Toronto and overcome difficulties relating to Persons of Indian Origin or PIO card.
Arun Janarthanan from Toronto tweeted to Ms Swaraj that his mother had suffered a stroke and that there was nobody to look after her and that he needed help with PIO card.
@SushmaSwaraj Mam, my mother had stroke last night as there is no body is there to look after, I need to leave my daughter applied PIO to
— Arun Janarthanan (@ArunJanarthanan) December 28, 2016
Prompt as she has been in the past, Ms Swaraj directed the Indian consulate in Toronto to reach out to Mr Janarthanan. She tweeted, “I am sorry to know that your mother has suffered a stroke. I have asked CG (Consulate General) Toronto to sort this out.”
Within hours, Mr Janarthanan thanked Ms Swaraj for her help saying consulate official Usha Venkatesan has been in touch and taken care of his problem.
He tweeted thanking the minister:
@SushmaSwaraj Mam @dineshbhatia sir – Usha Venkatesan from cgi Toronto has been in touch and taken care of my problem, I am blessed
— Arun Janarthanan (@ArunJanarthanan) December 28, 2016
Since she took oath as external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj has used the Twitter as a platform to help Indians in other countries. Recently, an Indian woman living in Norway reached out to Ms Swaraj saying her child was forcibly taken away by authorities over ‘frivolous complaint of abuse’. The minister came out in their support unequivocally through a series of tweets.
She has also repeatedly offered help to those who have been stranded in other countries and have tweeted to her asking for help.
Ms Swaraj was admitted to AIIMS on November 7 after kidney failure. She was discharged on December 19, 10 days after a kidney transplant.
P