64 flights will bring home 15,000 Indians in a week
Citizens on expiring visas, facing distress will get higher priority; Navy to help
NEW DELHI: India has launched a concerted repatriation programme, by sea and air, to bring back stranded citizens stuck in various parts of the world, but with a strict set of preconditions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), at a time when nations are trying to strike a balance between humanitarian considerations, responsibility towards citizens, and health concerns, in the face of a deadly pathogen.
In the first week of a massive air operation, which will start on Thursday, 64 flights will bring 15,000 Indian citizens home from 12 countries. All those who travel back will have to pay for their tickets, undergo strict screening processes, download the Aarogya Setu app, and go into institutional quarantine after landing.
The Indian Navy, on Tuesday, already kicked off one leg of the complex evacuation exercise by dispatching two amphibious warships to Male to evacuate Indians stranded in the Maldives, a spokesperson said. Two more warships may soon be dispatched to the Gulf , an officer familiar with the matter added.
The overall plan involves key ministries of the government. Minister for state (independent charge) civil aviation Hardeep Puri outlined the air operation; the ministry of home affairs came out with a set of standard operating procedures that all passengers who avail the facility will have to abide by; and the ministry of external affairs coordinated with foreign governments as well as ministries and state governments within.
The government has not termed it an “evacuation” but an exercise for the movement of Indian citizens stranded abroad.
On March 22, India suspended all international flights. For 45 days, there has been no international passenger movement to and from India -- except international cargo flights and special flights arranged by foreign embassies, permitted by India. But this has also meant that hundreds of thousands of Indians — abroad for educational, professional, tourism or economic purposes, among other reasons — remain stuck. They have been demanding arrangements to get back home, but apprehensive that they may be carriers of the disease, the government had not done it so far.
The first phase of bringing back Indian citizens by air runs from May 7 to May 13. The 12 countries involved in it will be United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Bangladesh, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, United Kingdom and United States, according to the flight plan for return of Indian nationals stranded abroad reviewed by HT.
At a time when there has been a controversy over the train fares for migrant workers, the government clarified that international passengers will be charged for the journey. Some of the fares (one way) from cities in the Gulf countries such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha to Kochi, Kerala range from ₹15,000 to ₹16,000. Rescue flights from London to India will cost ₹50,000 while flights from the United States to India have been priced at ₹100,000. “If there was no charge, people wanting to come back would be much higher,” Puri said.