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Mangaluru, May 22: An elderly cardiac patient from Dakshina Kannada, who was stranded in Saudi Arabia due to covid-19 lock-down, has finally reached his homeland thanks to the timely intervention by Humanity Forum Jubail and Indian Social Forum.

The elderly man hailing from Kadaba area of Dakshina Kannada was admitted to a hospital in Madinah. However, his condition continued to worsen due to lack of proper treatment. The efforts by his family members to bring him back home had not yielded results.

Meanwhile, one of the relatives of the patient, Ansari Suratkal, who happens to be a DKSC activist, brought the issue to the notice of the Karnataka unit of the Indian Social Forum in Dammam. ISF contacted Humanity Forum president Zakariya Jokatte, who helped the patient to speak directly union minister D V Sadananda Gowda in a video conference organised by coastaldigest.com.

Humanity Forum also persuaded the Indian Embassy to allow the stranded cardiac patient to fly back to India through Dammam-Bengaluru repatriation flight on May 20. 

However, it was not easy for the patient to travel from Madinah to Dammam International Airport due to lock-down and curfew. ISF not only obtained travel permission for him but also arranged vehicle. Jeddah and Riyadh units of ISF helped in obtaining permission letter in their respective places in spite of travel ban imposed by the police. Madinah unit of ISF arranged vehicle for transportation. Zakariya Jokatte bore the air ticket and other expenses of the patient.

Mangaluru, Jan 14: Mangaluru city police commissionerate his notified traffic diversions on NH 73 in view of massive protest at Adyra Kannur in the city against CAA, NPR and NRC on January 15. It also has issued guidelines for the public, protesters and organisers of the protest.

Mangaluru, May 6: The Karnataka NRI Forum - UAE has collected the details of those seeking to return to Karnataka amidst coronavirus lockdown.

Of these, 121 of these expats are pregnant women, 27 are senior citizens, 157 are in urgent medical need, 522 are unemployed, 377 are in the UAE on visit visa, 109 are in the UAE on expired residency visa, 30 are students and 566 others.

On Tuesday, May 5, the Government of India released a list of flight schedules for the repatriation of Indians who are stranded abroad. "...sadly we do not see any flights going from UAE to Karnataka," the KNRI said in a letter to Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda, who is also a Kannadiga.

"We, Dubai Anivasi Kannadigaru and KNRI have collected the information of those who are in dire condition and would like to travel immediately. We would like to bring to your attention that in this list there are pregnant women and senior citizens who are in critical conditions and are waiting to travel," the KNRI wrote, urging the Union Minister to start at least one flight to Mangaluru as the majority are from this coastal city and not from Bengaluru.

Additionally, in order to help these struggling Kannadigas, the KNRI has notified the Government of India and Government of Karnataka several times through letters and conference calls, along with the Kannadiga's helpline, UAE.

With the help of likeminded businessmen and professionals, the KNRI Forum and Dubai Anivasi Kannadigaru have opened a helpline called "Kannadigas Helpline" through which they have received around 2,500 requests for food, medical, legal and other assistance.