Toll-free global helpline launched for Kerala expats

Senior Reporter

The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, on Thursday launched a toll-free helpline for addressing the grievances of expatriate Keralites across the world. The Global Call Centre for the more than three million strong Malayalis from the south India state living overseas was launched in Dubai.

The hotline number, +918802012345, will be operational 24 hours and would even call back the aggrieved callers if the calls are missed, it was announced.

Vijayan also launched a portal for facilitating various initiatives for the non-resident Keralites.

The portal www.norkaroots.org would facilitate attestation of certificates, issuance of the identity card for expats, skill development programmes and overseas recruitment.

These are the initiatives facilitated through Norka Roots, a public sector undertaking under the Norka department for Non Resident Keralites (NRKs)

The launches were held before the chief minister addressed thousands of Malayalis during a cultural festival held as part of the Loka Kerala Sabha Middle East Conference at Dubai’s Etisalat Academy.

Meanwhile Kerala will undertake three initiatives to prevent the exploitation of Malayali women working abroad, Vijayan announced in Dubai yesterday.

A women’s cell in the Norka Roots, a public sector undertaking under Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs Department (Norka) of the Kerala government, migration facilitation centres at airports and pre-embarkation orientation centres in passport offices will be established to help these women, Vijayan said.