Anyone who has ever dealt with the bureaucracy or the government functionaries in India will be able to tell you how complex and frustrating the official red tape can be in the country.
But that seems to be changing now, at least in the case of India's External Affairs Minister, who is working even when she is in a hospital, battling a serious illness.
Mrs Sushma Swaraj is hospitalised in Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences due to kidney failure. But that hasn’t stopped her from not just responding to requests for help from her constituents, but also ensuring that these are acted on quickly.
From her hospital bed, Mrs Swaraj helped a researcher get a visa to enable her to travel to Australia where she is presenting a paper on 7 December.
Geeta Singh, a research scholar at the hospital where Mrs. Swaraj is receiving medical treatment tweeted to the minister, seeking her help as she hadn’t received her visa.
Mrs. Swaraj invited Geeta Singh to see her and assured her of all possible help.
Source: Twitter
"Geeta - I am also in AIIMS. Pl come and see me here. I will do my best to help you," the minister replied on Twitter.
The next day, Geeta Singh had her visa. Mrs Swaraj once again used her Twitter account to inform the medical researcher that her visa had been granted.
"Geeta- you have been issued Visa for Australia," Mrs Swaraj Tweeted.
As expected, Mrs Swaraj was showered with praises and good wishes after she helped Geeta.
But, not everyone is impressed. A Twitter user complained that the minister was not as prompt in responding to postcards.
This isn't the first time Sushma Swaraj has helped people reaching her on Twitter, having previously launched an appeal on the social platform to find a missing Indian citizen in Belgium following terror attacks in Brussels.
