4,000 Goans from 65 countries want to return home

May 06, 2020 15:26

At least 4,000 Goans from 65 countries have registered themselves on the Goa NRI commission's portal to come back to the country amid the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, state NRI Commissioner Narendra Sawaikar said on Wednesday. The state NRI commission has shared the data with the Ministry of External Affairs, Sawaikar told PTI. Nearly 4,000 people have registered themselves on the Goa NRI portal launched by the commission. They are spread across 65 countries, mostly in the Middle East and the UK, the BJP leader said.

The Goa NRI Commission has urged the MEA to facilitate immediate repatriation of Goans who are stranded abroad. Sawaikar said Goa does not figure in the first phase of the MEA's repatriation initiative, but its natives are likely to be brought back in the second phase.

The 4,000 people who have registered on the portal include a sizable number of students, some who have lost their jobs and some NRIs' parents who are stranded abroad as they had travelled prior to the lockdown. Sawaikar said the MEA will give preference to those who have requested to come back under compelling circumstances", the criteria of which will be decided as per their guidelines.

Air India will operate 64 repatriation flights for a week from May 7 while the Navy deployed two ships as India rolled out a massive evacuation plan on Tuesday to bring back thousands of its nationals stranded abroad due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. From the Gulf countries to Malaysia and the UK to the US, the multi-agency operation christened 'Vande Bharat Mission' will see the state-owned airline operate the non- scheduled commercial flights till May 13 to ferry around 15,000 Indian nationals from 12 countries. Those availing the repatriation flights will be charged, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday in New Delhi, adding that private Indian airlines may join the repatriation effort after May 13. -- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

No funding from Cong, Puri LS candidate returns ticket

'I tried a public donation drive to support my campaign for progressive politics without much success so far. I also tried to cut down the projected campaign spending to the minimum'

'Shahanshaah' vs 'shehzada': Priyanka, Modi trade barbs over Rahul

The Congress leader also said that the BJP wants to change the Constitution, and reduce and weaken the rights given to the people through the statute book.

That's why we have CAA: Jaishankar on Biden's 'xenophobia' remark

Rejecting the criticism of the CAA, Jaishankar said, "There are people who publicly said on record that because of CAA, a million Muslims will lose their citizenship in this country."

IPL: How Jaiswal got back into the groove

Asked about Royals' preparation, Jaiswal replied: "It's going great right now, and I hope we can continue with the momentum prepare well and keep focusing on the process for upcoming matches."

'Now China Is Afraid'

'Ladakh will be dealt with in Modi's third term.'