News Desk, New Delhi, June 30: On June 24th evening, a chartered plane operated by SpiceJet landed at Gaya International Airport carrying 180 Indian expatriates from United Arab Emirates. The occupants of this repatriation flight consist of stranded blue-collar workers, pregnant women, senior citizens and people who needed medical attention.
Since international flights are not operating for more than three months, people having various emergencies such as those removed from jobs or individuals whose close relatives have either died or suffering from serious ailments found themselves in extreme helpless situation.
Though Indian Government has launched Vande Bharat Mission to bring back its citizens, yet the size of intervention was way below the demand as far as UAE is concerned. The 20-30 flights which were flown for purpose were just enough for five to seven thousand people; whereas, the Indian Consulate in Dubai recently confirmed that they received around 3 lakh applications from people who sought to return to India.
Amid such terrible situation, Purwanchal Pravasi Milan, People of Indian Origin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PIOCCI) and other organizations working among expats in the UAE came forward to help stranded Indians. These organizations have pooled in their resources to get approval for chartered planes. The Purwanchal Pravasi Milan has got approval for eight chartered planes including the above mentioned Gaya-bound plane. Similarly, PIOCCI, a platform of Indian businessmen has also arranged eight flights to various South Indian cities.
Ravi Shankar Chand, Dubai based convenor of Purwanchal Pravasi Milan who is native of Bihar’s Ara district, speaking to TheNewsweb on phone said, “Considering the urgency of the situation, we have decided to collaborate with other organizations to trace the needy and arrange resources to send as many people as possible to home. We raise fund through PIOCCI while the organizations such as Bihar Association and Sindhi Association along with others assisted us in finding those who needed immediate help.”
“Apart from getting approval from various stakeholders, we also arranged tickets for people who could not afford to buy tickets. In the mission we got support from various quarters; among them the contribution of Vikas Kumar Singh and Manas Pandey deserves special mention ”, he added.
