Million's Of NRIs Want To Come Home

The 1st phase of the Indian government’s mass evacuation mission called Vande Bharat Mission, to bring scores of stranded expatriates back to the country, will kick start on May 7.

Millions of people, stranded across the world due to the global pandemic, are anxiously waiting to return to their natives. However, considering the sheer volume of individuals who wish to fly back, the Indian government has prioritized who should be brought back in the first phase of the mission.

According to sources, the Centre has categorized those to be brought back to the country into different groups based on the list of people given by the state governments.

As per the present plans, those facing deportation in foreign countries, people who have lost jobs, those with expired visas, people with medical emergencies, pregnant women, aged expatriates, students whose hostels have been shut, and people with family emergencies, will be flown back.

Notably, the prioritized groups will almost cover all vulnerable and high-risk categories. The present operations, in the first phase, will be carried out by the flights of Air India. It has been said that in the next phase, private airlines, too, might join the evacuation process.

In the first phase of the mission spanning across 7-days, starting from Thursday, 14,800 people will be evacuated in 64 flights from 12 countries — the UAE, the UK, the USA.

Of the 64 flights, 15 will land in Kerala, the state that has the largest number of non-resident Indians (NRIs) registered to come back to India. Of the other south Indian states, 11 flights will land in Tamil Nadu, 7 flights in Telangana, and 3 in Karnataka. Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujrat, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh airports, too, will receive these repatriation flights.

The Ministry of External Affairs has said that the travelers will have to cover their own cost of travel, including buying the flight tickets. The official pricing of tickets is yet to be revealed.