Dubai, May 6: The Indian nationals cleared by the UAE health authorities and found to be asymptomatic will only be allowed to fly back home in one of India's biggest ever repatriation exercises, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has said ahead of the first set of flights on Thursday.
On Monday, the Indian government announced plans to begin a phased repatriation of its citizens stranded abroad from May 7. Air India will operate 64 flights from May 7 to May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown, India's Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.
The first two special flights that will operate from Thursday to evacuate Indians stranded in the UAE due to the coronavirus pandemic will begin with applicants from Kerala, who formed the majority of the expatriates who have registered to be repatriated from here, Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor has said.
"All departing passengers will have to undergo medical screening and IGM/IGG test at the departure airport and only those cleared by the UAE health authorities and found to be asymptomatic will be allowed to board the plane,” the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi said on Tuesday.
According to the embassy, all passengers will be required to sign an undertaking to undergo compulsory quarantine at the destination of arrival and bear the cost of the same.
“Each passenger, at the time of boarding would be handed over a safety kit containing 2 three-layered face masks, 2 pairs of gloves and pouches/small bottles of hand sanitizers. While on board the flight, the health protocol of the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India will be strictly followed,” said the embassy.
The passenger lists for the two flights on May 7 have been finalised by the Embassy / Consulate and sent to Air India Express for issue of tickets.
The Embassy / Consulate will continue conveying the details of further special flights as and when they are announced by the Government of India, over the next few days.
Less than 2,000 Indians wishing to return home from the UAE will be flown to six Indian states in the first week of India’s biggest ever repatriation exercise named Vande Bharat Mission—sans social distancing and COVID-19 tests, the Gulf News reported.
Only those cleared by the UAE health authorities and found to be asymptomatic will be allowed to board the plane.
The short-listed applicants, who were contacted by the Indian missions on Tuesday to purchase tickets for the first two flights to Kerala on Thursday, told the Gulf News that the tickets are priced around Dh 725 to Dh 750 (over Rs 15,000).
Sharjah resident Rasheed Thayyil said his 70-year-old mother Nepheeza Thottungal, who came on a visit to the UAE in February, received an email from the Indian Consulate in Dubai which quoted an airfare of around Dh725 (approx Rs 15,000), the report said.
Another applicant from Abu Dhabi Ambily Babu said she purchased a ticket at Dh 750 from Air India Express for her Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight scheduled to fly on Thursday evening, it said.
Air India Express which is set to operate the first two flights to Kerala on Thursday will operate its Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with a seating capacity of 186 economy class seats, the report added.
With nine seats reserved for isolation, only 177 passengers would be flown, it said.
The Indian expatriate community of approximately 3.42 million is reportedly the largest ethnic community in the UAE constituting roughly about 30 per cent of the country's population, according to information available on the Indian Embassy website.
Comments
You people can check reports, SDPI people involved in many RSS workers' murder. They didnt get proper punishmnet
How BJP became communal..! BJP stands for patriotism. SDPI people working for conversion of people and making issues. That party should be banned fully.
Shame mr. rai. You only making the situation more complicated. By terming 'communal hub', you are injecting fear to common people.
BJP, SDPI both are communal they agreed. Should add more. BD, PFI etc
Dear Mr. Rai, with due respect, you and your party before flagging off the rally must answer the following questions to the general public!
1) you and your party won many times and even ruled undivided DK District but, why have you failed to controll the RSS and its hate campaign aginst a particular community???
2) During the last assemble election you have made public that once you got elected, you will send prabahkar bhat to jail! what action have you taken??
3) your own party worker late mr. Jaleel karopadi murdered by RSS Goons, what action and justice you have done to his father? who openly cried for justice and in anger he critisized you for failing to provide him justice!
4) under your constituency there were many muslim leaders and activists murder happend were were you that time?
5) the national tragedy of Babri masjid was demolished under congress rule and your national leadership maintained the soft hindutva, why have your party failed to protect it ..?
6) your national leadership had once said we will give justice to muslim community, and will rebuild babri masjid, being in a power for more than 10 years why your party couldnt provide the justice to the victims??? 7) your party have appointed the sri krishna commission! what action your party implimented against the hindutva brigade??
8) you and your party claims that, we are the protector of minority community! what protection you and your party provided for indian muslims?? since 70 years they have been looted, burnt alive, raped,tortured, made refugees, made scape-goat as terrors, etc etc ???
during all those time indian muslims dedicated their trust on all the so called secular partys, but all of them ditched to the community and maintained soft hindutva!
The anger, Disappointment, Frustration, and the Thawakkul on allah made to born SDPI on indian soil..!! that is the reality, that nobody cannot deny!!
Your Failure is SDPI's Stength, and SDPI's Success is indian oppressed community's success..!!
Add new comment