Centre's move to evacuate Indians stranded abroad gets over 50k applicants from Tamil Nadu

On Monday, the Indian government announced plans to begin phased repatriation of its citizens stranded abroad, from May 7. According to the information accessed by Republic TV, more than 50,000 people from Tamil Nadu who are stranded in various countries have applied to return to the state through the TN government website.

'200 from Malaysia will reach TN on May 8'

Tamilians stranded in Gulf countries like UAE, Qatar etc, US, European countries, Malaysia and Singapore have applied for the return. According to the sources, most of the entries are from Gulf countries. Sources added that 200 Indians from Malaysia will be initially reaching Tamil Nadu on May 8 and the government has arranged quarantine facilities for them since they have to be in mandatory 14 days quarantine.

According to the information, people will have to pay the flight charges and they will also have to pay if they want private hotels for quarantine. Quarantine facility provided by the state government is also available for the people which is free of cost.

'Commenced preparations for Vande Bharat Mission'

About 15,000 Indian nationals stuck abroad will return home via 64 flights from 12 countries — from 7 May to 13 May — as part of the Modi government’s ‘Vande Bharat Mission’. “Commenced preparations for Vande Bharat Mission. Planning underway for stranded Indian nationals to return home starting 7th May. Urge them to keep in regular touch with their Embassies,” tweeted External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday.

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According to PTI, over three lakh Indians in Gulf have registered for evacuation but the government will bring back people like pregnant women, elderly, students and those having "compelling reasons" to return such as medical emergencies, expiry of visas and facing the prospect of deportation.

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According to estimates, around 1.4 crore Indians are staying in various parts of the world and a sizeable number of them wants to return home. The government has not given any estimate about how many Indians it plans to evacuate out of the 1.4 crores.

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The Indian Navy said two of its ships are on their way to the Maldives for evacuating Indians stranded in the island nation while the Indian Air Force has kept ready about 30 transport aircraft including C-17 Globemaster and C-130J Super Hercules for any requirement.

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(With PTI inputs)