54,000 of 83,000 Indians took charter flights home

Community groups say India is relying more on them than its own mission

Asection of the Indian expat community in the UAE has hit out at the Indian Government for depending more charter flights than its own special flights under the Vande Bharat Mission for repatriation of stranded Indians, saying the authorities are shifting their responsibility to community groups.

While the Indian government’s repatriation drive, dubbed its biggest ever, began on May 7 by using Air India (AI) and Air India Express (AIE) flights, it later allowed charter operations by companies and community groups to speed up the repatriation of stranded Indians.

‘Wrote to government’

However, in the past few weeks, the government has been approving more charter flights arranged by various community groups and companies than its Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights, social workers and organisations chartering flights say.

“The government is depending on us now,” said Dr Puthur Rahman, president of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) UAE, which has chartered the highest number of flights to repatriate stranded Keralites.

“We approached the government to charter flights because we understood that there are many limitations and it will take a lot of time for repatriation just by using AI and AIE flights,” he told Gulf News.

Phase 4 from July 3

Meanwhile, phase 4 of India’s Vande Bharat Mission will focus on the Gulf, Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said in New Delhi yesterday. “We are committed to bringing back our remaining compatriots, particularly in GCC countries, Malaysia, Singapore, among other places,” he said. “Phase four has been firmed up with effect from July 3. This phase will particularly focus on countries where we still have a large number of Indians who have registered to return,” he added.