The Indian government will begin from this week the evacuation of thousands of Indians stranded in US due to the coronavirus-linked global travel restrictions even as two special flights are set to operate on Thursday to bring back Indians stranded in the United Arab Emirates.
In a statement issued on Monday, the government said the evacuation process will begin from May 7 in a phased manner, adding that the Standard Operating Protocol has been made.
The facility will be available on a payment-basis, the statement said.
'Indian Embassies and High Commissions are preparing a list of distressed Indian citizens. The facility would be made available on a payment-basis. Non-scheduled commercial flights would be arranged for air travel. The travel would begin in a phased manner from May 7,' the statement said.
The government further said that the passengers would be quarantined for 14 days either at a hospital or an institution on a payment-basis after scrutiny by the state governments concerned.
'State governments are being advised to make arrangements, including for testing, quarantine, and onward movement of the returning Indians in their respective states,' the statement said.
Aarogya Setu app has also been made mandatory for the passengers, it added.
Earlier, the civil Aviation ministry had conveyed to the core group planning the evacuation operation that it is ready to make available majority of the nearly 650 commercial planes including freighters for the mission, sources said.
The sources had said that priority will be to evacuate the Indians from the Gulf nations following which the government will try to bring back those stranded in Europe and other parts of the globe.
They had said the Navy and the Indian Air Force have also been told to keep some of their platforms on standby for the evacuation which is likely to be the biggest after 'Operation Raahat' when India brought back over 6,700 people, including citizens from 41 countries, from strife-torn Yemen in 2015.
Evacuation from US likely to begin from this week
The special evacuation flights for thousands of Indians stranded in the US due to the coronavirus-linked global travel restrictions are most likely to begin this week from San Francisco and other cities, according to officials.
While no exact dates have been announced yet, the flights could take off from San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Washington DC, the officials said.
Given that a large number of Indian students and visitors are stranded in the US because of the strict travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, more flights are likely to be scheduled in the coming weeks.
Community leaders have welcomed the move of the Indian government which on Monday announced that special flights facilitating the return of Indian nationals stranded abroad on compelling grounds would begin in a phased manner from May 7.
The Indian embassy and its consulates in the US last week started preparing a list of Indians planning to travel back home. The list is being prepared through an online registration form.
This is for the first time in my memory that such an evacuation effort is being carried out by the Indian government for its citizens in the US, Jaipur Foot USA chairman Prem Bhandari said as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the efforts.
Bhandari, who had been receiving calls from various stranded Indians, sometimes from students seeking accommodation, or visitors who had run out of medicine, last week wrote a letter to foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and civil aviation secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, bringing to their attention the grave situation.
In the letter, he said: 'There are a large number of students who have run out of money. They don't have a place to stay. What is more worrisome is the fact that this uncertainty is having a toll on their mental and physical health.'
'A large number of Indian visitors, in particular senior citizens and parents of those working in the US, have run out of their essential medicines. To get them medicine, even with a traveler's health insurance, is often not affordable. The evacuation flight is the need of the hour. This shows how much this government cares for its citizens,' Bhandari said.
Over the past few weeks, several Indians have been reaching out to Indian Ambassador in the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu and the helpline established by it seeking an early repatriation back home.
'Please start some flights for Indian citizens on humanitarian grounds. We have critically ill senior citizen parents who are alone and have to be looked after. Please understand our plight and bring this to the notice of the Indian government,' one of them tweeted last week.
Some Indian-origin people having Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards have also sought help in travelling back to India.
'Please also take care of OCIs as well. I am a resident of India and working in India. My family is in India too. I visited US for a month and got stuck here,' wrote Kranthi Borra.
In a separate letter last week, Bhandari requested US secretary of State Mike Pompeo to waive off the visa extension fee of USD 455 given the exceptional circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The visa extension fee of USD 455 (including biometric service fee of USD 85) imposed by the US Department of State is further hitting these visitors real hard. As the Government of India is working tirelessly on expeditious repatriation of its citizens, I sincerely urge you to reconsider the visa extension fee and waive these charges on humanitarian grounds and as a gesture of compassion, he said.
The Indian government in a statement said that medical screening of passengers would be done before the flight.
Only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel, it said. During the journey, all these passengers would have to follow the protocols, such as the Health Protocols, issued by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
On reaching the destination, everyone would have to register on the Arogya Setu app, the official statement said.
Everyone would be medically screened. After scrutiny, they would be quarantined for 14 days, either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment-basis, by the concerned state governments.
Covid-19 test would be done after 14 days and further action would be taken according to health protocols, it said.
The ministries of external affairs and civil aviation would soon share detailed information.
The coronavirus pandemic has infected over 1.2 million people and killed nearly 70,000 in the US, the worst affected country in the world.
Two flights set for UAE
Two special flights are set to operate on Thursday to evacuate Indians stranded in the United Arab Emirates due Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian Consulate in Dubai has announced.
The passenger list for the two flights -- Abu Dhabi to Kochi and Dubai to Kozhikode -- will be finalised by the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi, and the Consulate General of India, Dubai, a statement said on Monday.
The list will be made on the basis of registrations in the Embassy or Consulate database which was launched for this purpose a few days back, it added.
According to the statement, priority will be given to workers in distress, elderly people, urgent medical cases, pregnant women as well as to other people who are stranded in difficult situations.
The cost of the tickets and other conditions, for travel including quarantine requirements after reaching India, and health requirements to board the flight will be conveyed in due course and will have to be accepted by each passenger,' it said.
Air tickets will only be issued to those on the passenger lists prepared by the Embassy or Consulate, the statement said.
The Embassy or Consulate will also be conveying the details of further flights to different destinations in India in the coming days and the process for finalization of the passenger lists for these flights will remain the same, it said.
As there were almost 200,000 registrations for travelling back, it will take time for all the people to be accommodated on these flights, the statement said.
Three naval ships sent to UAE, Maldives
India has sent three naval ships to evacuate its citizens stranded in the Maldives and UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a defence spokesperson said in the early hours on Tuesday.
INS Jalashwa deployed off Mumbai coast, along with INS Magar, diverted for Maldives on Monday night, he said.
While INS Shardul diverted to Dubai to evacuate the expatriates, the spokesperson added.
The three ships will return to Kochi, he said.
INS Magar and INS Shardul are Southern Naval Command ships, while INS Jalashwa is from Eastern Naval Command.