Indian Americans to the rescue of stranded students
With the United States fast becoming one of the global epicentres of the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian embassy in the US is partnering with members of the Indian community there to provide temporary refuge to Indians students from American universities who have been asked to vacate their on-campus accommodation but have nowhere to go.
The Indian embassy in Washington said, “Following the growing cases of Covid-19, US universities have taken measures to shut down oncampus operations and/or move classes online... The embassy of India/India student hub can provide information on temporary emergency resources. The embassy has partnered with and is grateful to members of the Indian community who have made these resources available for Indian students in an emergency. During this extraordinary situation created by the pandemic, our commitment remains steadfast to ensure welfare of our students in the best possible manner within available resources and with the support of the United States government.”
“We will update the information as soon as commercial flights to India resume,” the Indian embassy further said.
Earlier, Indian American hoteliers had come forward to help Indian students stranded in the US by offering free accommodation and in some cases food.
More than 6,000 rooms in nearly 700 hotels were offered to them by Wednesday following a call from the Indian embassy which has been running a round-theclock helpline since last week for Indian students in the US, who number over 2,50,000.
Meanwhile, the United States has approached the Indian government for permission to operate evacuation flights by American or foreign carriers to ferry thousands of stranded Americans back to the US.
The United States said the process is “complicated” but is confident the evacuation flights will begin in about three days.
A United States state department official said in Washington that they are looking at “1,500 or so people in the New Delhi area”, 600 to 700 people in Mumbai, and “300 to 400 elsewhere in India apart from a church group that has chartered a large aircraft.”
“We are facilitating the necessary permits for that aircraft. They’re ready to take out 150 or so Americans… The permissions is what’s complicated at the moment... that takes a while both in India and the United States... We are hopeful that those flights will begin... within about three days or so,” the US state department official added.
Washington, March 28: The US government is making arrangements to airlift over 2,000 American citizens stranded in India due to the suspension of flights and the lockdown in the country to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the State Department has said.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ian Brownlee, Bureau of Consular Affairs on Covid-19, said that there were about 1,500 Americans in the New Delhi area, between 600 and 700 in the Mumbai area and 300 to 400 Americans elsewhere who have identified themselves. “We are working with a multiplicity of options here. There is a church group that has chartered a large aircraft. We are facilitating the necessary permits for that aircraft. They’re ready to take out 150 or so Americans. We are working directly with both US and foreign carriers to lay on aircraft direct from India to the United States,” he said during a briefing.
“The permitting is complicated at the moment.
We’re ready to act on this, but it’s the permitting that takes a while both in India and the United States. So we’re hopeful, and I think with reason we are hopeful, that those flights will begin within several days, within about three days or so,” he said. He said the State Department was tracking 33,000 citizens stranded abroad due to lockdowns and/or flight cancellation who wanted help returning home.