PIO Card

My experience with PIO Application - Minor at New York CKGS - Indian Embassy:

1. PIO Card - Minor Application received at CKGS / NY - Jan 9,2015 10:02. Friday. I mailed it on Jan 6,2005 at around 8PM by FedEx from Pittsburgh,PA. It was struck at Philadelphia due to truck ramps getting closed due to icy road conditions. It was supposed to reach CKGS/NY no later than Jan 8 but they received it only on Jan 9.
2. Email from CGKS with subject 'Complete Application Received at CKGS Application Service Centre' on Jan 12,2015 (Jan 12 was the next working day, Monday)
3. Email from CGKS with subject ;Payment Receipt for your Application' on Jan 12, 2015
4. Application status in CKGS website (http://www.in.ckgs.us/VPOOnline/WebPages/TrackYourApplication.aspx):

Application Status Remarks Date of Status
Your application has been submitted at The Indian Embassy/Consulate for further processing. 01/12/2015
Your application is in process. Your tracking id is USAN700 **** * 01/12/2015
Your application has been received and will be submitted subject to verification. 01/12/2015

5. Sent an enquiry email on Jan 15,2015 and received a response back stating that my application has been submitted to the Indian Embassy for further processing. The general processing time of the PIO application is approximately 4-6 weeks.

6. Checked CKGS website and found that PIO scheme is cancelled as per a Gazette notification and only OCI cards will be issued for applications received after Jan 9, 2015.

7. I called CKGS/NY and they said that my child's passport is at Embassy. They will either return it or they will issue an OCI Card. CKGS does not have any further information.

Note: We have a multi itinerary travel plan on Feb 8 to travel to India. And there are 3 possible outcomes of PIO application:
1. Embassy might issue OCI card instead of POI. This is the best case.
2. Embassy might return back the passport and my application held at CKGS will also be returned back. This is the worst case.
3. If outcome is #2, and if I receive my passport on this week ending Jan23/24, I have a choice of applying for VISA. VISA takes 3 to 5 business days to be issued. Add 2 days for sending the VISA forms and receiving it at CKGS and also 2 days for sending it back. In total about 9 days and add weekend to it; that makes it about 11 days. that's close to 2 weeks. This is a reasonable case.
4. Apply for VISA on arrival. This is also a not-so-good option. Since our itinerary spans more than a month. And I have non-refundable tickets booked. VISA on arrival is valid only for 30 days.

Embassy has put us in tight spot. Are there anyone else out there who have taken risks with making a travel plan closer to a date subject to receival of PIO card and ended up in nervous mode like me?

I will update any information as soon as I have it. We are based out of PA and it's not a feasible option to travel to NY to submit VISA application in person if we get the passports back without an OCI card along with it.