A dash of humour, a bit of wit, a touch of grace, a smidgen of irony — and a whole lot of efficiency. Yes, that about sums up Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs in the Modi Cabinet.

In a country where governments change, but governance remains pretty much the same, Swaraj appears to be the one bright spot in an otherwise lacklustre (and oftentimes, downright controversial) galaxy of ministers. Her level of involvement in the affairs of Indians facing trouble abroad, or even domestically, and her readiness to go the extra mile in the performance of her duties, is commendable, and something her Cabinet colleagues could well emulate. Ever since she took office as Minister of External Affairs, Swaraj has been in the news mostly for the right reasons. Be it enabling mass evacuations from conflict zones, or lending a helping hand to someone who might have lost their passport, or ensuring the safe passage of an Indian kidnapped abroad, Swaraj has done it all without much ado, without hogging the limelight, and without clicking selfies left, right and centre, as is the wont of some of her colleagues.

Stepping in – and stepping up

Stepping up to the plate seems to come naturally to Swaraj. A look at some of the rescue missions initiated by her reveals that not only does she monitor the situation personally, she also lends a human touch to the procedures. For instance, in early 2015, she oversaw “Operation Raahat”, launched by the Government of India to evacuate people from war-torn Yemen. In the process, 4,741 Indian nationals and 1,947 people of 48 countries were rescued. The mission was an outstanding success, with world leaders acknowledging the role of India in the evacuations. And amidst all the action, Swaraj found time to respond to a tweet of Sabah Shawesh, a Yemeni woman married to an Indian, who was stranded in the country with her eight-month-old child. Swaraj asked her for her contact number and assured her of assistance.

Not just Yemen, the Minister has also been actively involved with facilitating the safe return of Indians from the Gulf nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, which have been plagued by the economic downturn owing to a fall in crude oil prices. Earlier this month, Swaraj announced that 55,730 Indians have returned from Saudi Arabia since August 2015. In order to facilitate the return of the mostly blue-collar workers, Swaraj’s ministry started multilingual helplines in India and the Gulf countries, and also set up the Indian Worker Resource Centre (IWRC) in Dubai that provides a toll-free helpline, and walk-in counselling facilities. Many Indians reported non-availability of food in some labour camps of two big Saudi companies. Again, Swaraj swung into action, directing the Indian embassy to provide free food to hundreds of people rendered unemployed.

Swaraj, and Twitter, to the rescue

An active social networker, Swaraj has used her Twitter account to effectively render assistance to a multitude of people. With tales of her helpful nature reaching far and wide, more and more people are reaching out to her, some of them with downright bizarre demands and complaints. Even to those, the Minister replies with gentle wit, directing them elsewhere.

Her use of the social media to help Indians in distress abroad came to the fore again recently when she assured a 16-year-old girl that the Indian embassy in the UAE would help her father embroiled in a case of fraud. The girl, Anjali Mohan, had tweeted to Swaraj, asking for help, saying her father was innocent. Swaraj promptly replied, telling her the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi would contact her shortly.

Then there is the instance of Swaraj directing the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan to seek consular access to an Indian prisoner, Hamid Nehal Ansari, who was attacked by inmates in a Peshawar jail. A Mumbai resident, Ansari was arrested in Pakistan in 2012 for illegally entering the country from Afghanistan, reportedly, to meet a girl he had befriended online.

Swaraj was also instrumental in saving an Indian national, Gurdip Singh, from the gallows in Indonesia. An alleged drug peddler, Gurdip was facing death, along with 13 others, in July this year. However, he was spared just hours before he was to be executed, thanks to the frantic efforts of Swaraj, her ministry, and the Indian embassy.

Besides, Swaraj has also come to the rescue of Indian women defrauded in marriage abroad. To facilitate the registration of complaints, Swaraj set up an e-portal, MADAD, which addresses consular grievances. Many Indian women who have been abandoned by their spouses abroad, or who discovered that their husband was already married, or had a live-in partner, have benefited from the portal as complaints registered on it have seen prompt action.

There are numerous other instances of Swaraj rendering timely and effective help to people within the country, and outside. Be it arranging the rescue of Judith D’Souza, an aid worker who was abducted in Kabul; issuing a visa to a five-year-old Pakistani girl, Basma Mohammad Faisal, for a liver transplant in Chennai; ensuring the return from Pakistan to India of speech-impaired girl, Geeta; securing the release of Kerala techie Regi Joseph, who was kidnapped in Libya; helping Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, when his coach lost his passport; rescuing Santosh Bhardwaj, an engineer, from pirates in Nigeria; helping Pakistani teen, Mashal Maheshwari, who now lives in India, take her medical entrance exams – the stories of Swaraj going out of her way to help are legion.

Perhaps, the only disappointed person is the one who tweeted to her, complaining about a defective refrigerator! Swaraj tweeted back to him, and her reply was epic: “Brother I cannot help you in matters of a Refrigerator. I am very busy with human beings in distress.” Then there was the man who tweeted to her about his brand new car, and how he feared to drive it because of excessive smoke in the exhaust. Again, Swaraj did not disappoint, directing him to take his car to a workshop.

Levity aside, her endeavors have impressed not just her colleagues, but also her political opponents. So much so that even Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal praised her, tweeting “Sushma ji is doing excellent work”. Arch political rival Kejriwal praising a minister of the Modi government? That has to be something special!