Indian News Queensland | COPING WITH CORONA
Vande Bharat: Special Air India flights begin repatriation of Indians stuck in Australia Indian government’s decision to launch the Vande Bharat Mission is being welcomed by thousands of Indians stranded in Australia
T
he Indian government’s ‘Vande Bharat Mission’, which is being hailed as the biggest repatriation mission to bring back numerous Indians stranded on foreign shores began with seven special Air India flights from Australia scheduled between May 21 and May 28. Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold of the world, India and Australia had been under a lockdown, causing many Indians on a visit to Australia to be stranded abroad.
passengers adhered to the necessity of a prior arrival of at least four hours to undergo necessary medical screening for the flight bound for New Delhi that was scheduled to take off at 9.45 am. In order to make sure that the repatriation flight took off safely and smoothly, the Consul General of India (Sydney) Manish Gupta and Air India Regional Manager Anil Kaul were both present at the airport. The flight eventually took off with 224 passengers onboard.
What is Vande Bharat Mission? Seeing the plight of the Indian citizens stuck abroad, the Indian government started the Vande Bharat Mission comprising special flights by Air India and Air India Express all across the globe to countries where Indians are stuck and are awaiting rescue. Australia, which is a coveted destination for Indians desirous of immigrating to the country for study and work purposes, also happens to be a favoured tourist destination for many. Many Indians had been sending out appeals for repatriation which were fortunately answered near the last week of May.
On May 25, two Air India flights which took off from Sydney and Melbourne as per the schedule released by the Indian High Commission, provided much needed respite to 458 Indians who had been stuck in Australia.
Of the seven scheduled flights from Australia, three were scheduled from Sydney on May 21, 23 and 25 with the destinations being New Delhi, Amritsar and Ahmedabad, respectively.The remaining four from Melbourne on May 22, 23,25 and 28 were scheduled to land in Amritsar, Bengaluru, Cochin and Hyderabad, respectively. This was confirmed in an official notification by the Indian High Commission. The official notification also stated that passengers with compelling reasons to travel such as those with medical emergencies, elderly people, pregnant women, temporary visa holders whose visas were on the verge of expiry and migrant workers who had lost their jobs would be prioritized and would be notified by email of their names being shortlisted.
Crew members of the Vande Bharat Mission flight during the first phase
On May 28, the final repatriation flight of the first phase of the mission took off. As per the Indian High Commission, Canberra’s Facebook page, stranded Indian nationals who could not be accommodated in the 1st phase will be considered for the flight in the second phase. While nearly 10,000 Indian nationals stranded in Australia have registered with the Indian High Commission for the repatriation flights, P S Karthigeyan, Deputy High Commissioner of India to Australia stated that due to huge number of Indians awaiting repatriation from Australia, it would not be possible to rescue them all in the first phase of Vande Bharat Mission, which ended on May 28. However, he promised that there would be more such repatriation flights in the near future for those who have now been left out. By Deepika Banerji
Vande Bharat Mission is believed to be the biggest repatriation mission to bring back numerous Indians stranded on foreign shores. Courtesy - Facebook, Indian High Commission, Canberra
But if they did not buy tickets in the 24 hours following the notification, the seats would be allocated to the next passengers in waiting. Medical screening before boarding would be compulsory for all and only asymptomatic passengers would be permitted to travel. Moreover, on arrival in India, all passengers would have to undergo 14-day mandatory quarantine. How did the Mission go so far? On May 21, a long queue had already started forming at Sydney airport as early as 4.30 am as the eager
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Passengers on board an Indian flight being rescued back to India from Australia as part of Indian government’s Vande Bharat Mission
Stranded Indians finally able to check out
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JUNE 2020
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