‘Indian expats who cannot afford paid quarantine to be exempted from fees’

abu dhabi – Stranded Indians who are returning to the state of Kerala but cannot afford to pay the institutional quarantine shall be exempted from fees, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday.

The announcement comes a day after Vijayan said all expatriates — including the poor — must pay for seven days of institutional quarantine, which will be followed by a seven-day home quarantine. The decision on payments, however, was reversed after an all-party meeting held earlier in the day.

“We will receive all people who wish to return. However, there has been some misunderstanding over the state government’s decision on paid quarantine. This issue was raised by many leaders during the all-party meeting. But there should not be any apprehension in this regard. Poor people will not face any difficulty. But there are people who can afford to pay for quarantine expenses. We will charge only those people who can afford. Further details in this regard will be announced later,” he said.

Vijayan added that an order to this effect will be released soon.

“The decision to charge those who can afford is the state government’s decision and not by the central government,” he said, adding that the state was prepared to deal with the situation.

Vijayan underlined the state government will support the move to bring in people through chartered flights.

“There are associations abroad who plan to bring people on chartered flight. We welcome such move. But if we have prior knowledge about their arrival, we can make arrangements accordingly.”

On Wednesday, Kerala reported 40 new Covid-19 cases.

Poor people will not face any difficulty. But there are people who can afford to pay for quarantine expenses. We will charge only those people who can afford.” Pinarayi Vijayan,

Chief Minister, south Indian state of Kerala