Delhi, April 26, 2020: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has started the process of consultation with states and Union Territories (UTs) for bringing back Indians stranded in foreign countries due to coronavirus lockdown, said Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Saturday.
He said a decision in this regard would be taken after getting feedback on the preparedness of states.
"MEA has started the process of consultation with states/UTs for bringing back Indians stranded in foreign countries. A decision would be taken after getting feedback on the preparedness of states/UTs to receive them following all required health precautions," Gauba said during a video conference interaction with Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs to review the implementation of lockdown restrictions in the country.
Many Indian nationals, including, students, workers and tourists, are stuck abroad due to the lockdown imposed. India is under lockdown till May 3 to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Foreign Secretary, Secretary, Economic Affairs, Secretary, Labour and Employment and other senior officers of concerned ministries attended today's video conference.
While interacting with the Chief Secretaries, the Cabinet Secretary emphasised on an effective containment strategy to be adopted by all to minimise the spread of coronavirus, especially in hotspot areas.
In light of this development, Government of Punjab has also taken the initiative to repatriate Punjabis stranded abroad.
READ: DC Jalandhar Releases Helpline For Residents/ Students Stuck Abroad
The first step is for the Punjabis who want to return to get in touch with the government.
As per the decision of Punjab government, all DCs have been asked to collect such information at district level. Almost all DCs on Saturday released their district-level helpline contacts for this purpose, including email ids and phone numbers.
Babushahi.com will extend all possible help to Indians stranded abroad and the government in this matter. In this direction, helpline numbers and other contacts issued by DCs of some districts are being provided along with this news. The rest of the districts will also try to give in the next news on April 26.
Mansa: A large number of Indian nationals are working abroad and at the same time Indian students are pursuing higher studies in colleges and universities in different countries.
Many of these Indian nationals are keen to return to India in view of Covid-19. The Deputy Commissioner said that Indian nationals and students residing abroad who wish to return to India should provide their details including their name, mobile number, current address, passport number, number of family members accompanying them, information about the nearest airport in Punjab.
Mansa administration’s e-mail id is zpmansa@gmail.com or helpline number 95014-26330. He said that further action would be taken as per the guidelines of the state government.
Deputy Commissioner Mansa Mr. Gurpal Singh Chahal said that due to the curfew all these flights were cancelled and these citizens were unable to return to India. The state government has drawn up a detailed plan for their return.
Rupnagar: Rupnagar DC Sonali Giri said that students/Indian citizens or Indians working abroad who want to return can provide their name, mobile number, current address where they live abroad, passport number, how many people want to return to India (family members) and information about the nearest airport in Punjab to them. The information can be sent to ropar.nri@gmail.com. Apart from this telephone number: 01881-221157 can also be contacted for registration of information.
SAS Nagar: DC Girish Dayalan said that all such persons wishing to return should upload their details on Google Forms link https://forms.gle/LwRaHE8BN6tk972b6 where they will need to provide their name, mobile number, current address where they live abroad, passport number, Email-ID, how many people want to return to India (family members) and information about their nearest airport in Punjab can be mailed to dwosas@gmail.com. Apart from this telephone numbers: 0172-2219505, 2219506 can also be contacted for information.
Faridkot: District Magistrate Faridkot Kumar Sorabh Raj has appealed to the people stuck abroad to get in touch with SDM of their sub division or the district level control room number-01639 250338 and provide complete information such as current address abroad, passport number, names of other members returning with the family in case of departure, nearest airport in Punjab, etc.
He said that this information would be provided by the Deputy Commissioner's Office to the state coded control room set up by the Punjab government on the basis of which the next plan would be drawn up by the government.
Ferozepur: Deputy Commissioner Ferozepur Kulwant Singh people from Ferozepur district who want to return to their homes should send details to citizeninfofzr@gmail.com
Citizens who are stranded abroad are given their name, their father's name, current mobile number, foreign address, passport number, information of other people accompanying them (details of family members) and the nearest airport in their district in Punjab. Information is requested to be sent to the above email id as soon as possible.