Confusion on repatriation of dead bodies to India cleared
abu dhabi — Confusion among the Indian expat community about repatriation of bodies to the home country has been cleared. This came after a Calicut International Airport health officer issued a clarification over a circular he had sent out.
Dr Jalaludheen had shot a circular to airline operators, asking them to follow standard operating procedures while repatriating bodies to the Kerala airport. However, following protests of expat community and intervention of Kerala state government, the officer has requested all airline firms not to block any dead bodies.
The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi and social activists have termed as ‘impractical’ the circular issued by the officer, seeking a 48-hour notice on repatriation of dead bodies from Gulf countries.
The procedure mentioned in the circular follows the International Health Rule 2005 and Indian Aircraft Public Health Rule 1954, which mandated producing death certificate, embalming certificate, NOC from the Indian High Commission of the concerned country and cancelling copy of passport, all of this to airport health officer 48 hours prior to arrival of dead body.
Embassy first secretary (community affairs) Dinesh Kumar said there was no information from the Indian government on any recent rule change in the procedures to follow for repatriation.
“The 48-hour notice sought by the Calicut airport health officer is practically not possible,” Kumar said.
A social activist said the officer is unaware about the hardships faced by expats, especially in time of transporting dead bodies.
“This is an unfortunate incident. The Calicut airport official is ignorant of the lengthy procedures that
There is no information from the Indian government on any recent rule change in the procedures to follow for repatriation.” Dinesh Kumar, first secretary, Indian embassy
we follow to send a body back to India. Jalaludheen should be send to any of the Gulf states to see how we rush a body to airport after embalming. If embalming certificate needs to be furnished 48 hours before arrival of the body to India, it means a delay of 2-3 days,” Vidhyadharan Ereuthinad said.
Another social activist said the entire incident was an unnecessary issue.
If embalming certificate needs to be furnished 48 hours before arrival of the body to India, it means a delay of two to three days.” Vidhyadharan Ereuthinad, social worker
“It was a laughable decision taken by the officer. Thankfully, it was send only to Sharjah airport. The rules mentioned aren’t possible to follow. The rules aren’t anything new but why he circulated such a notice now is beyond comprehension,” social activist MM Nasar Kanhangad said.
Meanwhile, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to the federal government seeking
The rules mentioned aren’t possible to follow. They aren’t anything new but why he circulated such a notice now is beyond comprehension.”
MM Nasar Kanhangad, social worker
withdrawal of the particular norm.
Facing heat over the incident from the state government, Jalaludheen told local media in Kerala that he has notified airlines not to block dead bodies and only pass on information before repatriation.
“The circular was meant to prevent possible entry of infectious diseases to Kerala. It wasn’t intended to create difficulties,” said Jalaludheen referring to the sections in the circular which stated that if it’s not possible to mention the exact cause of death because of unavoidable reasons, then in such situations the health department of the country concerned may issue a certificate saying “the person has not died because of infectious/communicable/notifiable disease of international health concern”.
After the outcry, Jalaludheen said: “The 48-hour notice isn’t mandatory but conveying prior information to airport would be enough.”
Kerala media has reported that blocked dead bodies have finally started reaching Calicut airport on Monday morning and rest was set to reach on Tuesday.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com