Indian Consulate repatriates 82 bodies as part of welfare programme

Deceased Punjabi, 25, is latest case to be supported by community fund

Indian man Gurlal Singh was five months shy of turning 26 when he died in a truck accident in Sharjah’s Al Dhaid area on February 21.

However, there was nobody to shoulder the responsibility of repatriating the body of Singh, a native of Taran Taran in the northern Indian state of Punjab, as he was on a visit visa. It was then that the Indian Association Ajman extended its support and its general secretary Roop Sidhu coordinated with the Indian Consulate in Dubai.

Flown home yesterday

Singh’s body was flown home early yesterday morning on an Air India Express flight from Dubai to Amritsar.

His is the latest case of repatriation of bodies of needy Indians supported by the mission through a community fund and free freight charges for the coffins offered by India’s national carrier Air India and its low budget arm Air India Express.

The Indian Consulate in Dubai spent over Rs6.22 million (Dh319,000) to repatriate the bodies of as many as 82 Indians in 2019, the mission revealed to Gulf News.

The aid for flying home the bodies of Indians comes from the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF). The fund covers charges for embalming, casket, ambulance and airway bill.

Apart from this, the mission issued air tickets for 70 people for accompanying the bodies, a spokesperson said.

Criteria for assistance

However, the ICWF assists only in cases that meet certain criteria, said the spokesperson.

“The Indian government sponsors the repatriation costs through the ICWF only when there is no sponsor for the deceased or the company is closed or the deceased is on a visit visa and there is nobody to bear the expenses,” the spokesperson explained.