MADURAI: A total of 36,11,373 Indians stranded in other countries have been repatriated during the Covid-19 lockdown, minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan said in response to unstarred questions raised by Rajya Sabha MP Anbumani Ramadoss.
The MP had asked for statistics on the number of Indians repatriated during the global Covid-19 lockdown and measures taken to bring back Indian citizens stranded outside the country.
In his reply, the minister stated that during the lockdown, details of distressed and stranded Indian nationals registered with Indian missions abroad were entered in the ministry of external affairs’ ‘Repat’ portal.
The government commenced operations under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) on May 7, 2020 to facilitate the return of stranded Indian nationals from abroad in a phased manner, the minister said.
Stating that stranded Indian nationals with compelling reasons have since safely returned to India, he added that their missions were in regular touch with Indian nationals for facilitating their return to India on a request basis. According to the minister’s replies, the total number of repatriates include 3,97,106 by land and 3,987 by sea, till January 20, 2021.
The highest number of repatriated Indians are from Kerala (9,62,306), followed by Delhi (8,35,093), Maharashtra (3,80,334) and Tamil Nadu (3,44,937). Uttar Pradesh (2,59,537), Telangana (2,22,274) and Karnataka (2,13,917) are the other states with more than one lakh repatriated Indians.
The MP had asked for statistics on the number of Indians repatriated during the global Covid-19 lockdown and measures taken to bring back Indian citizens stranded outside the country.
In his reply, the minister stated that during the lockdown, details of distressed and stranded Indian nationals registered with Indian missions abroad were entered in the ministry of external affairs’ ‘Repat’ portal.
The government commenced operations under the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) on May 7, 2020 to facilitate the return of stranded Indian nationals from abroad in a phased manner, the minister said.
Stating that stranded Indian nationals with compelling reasons have since safely returned to India, he added that their missions were in regular touch with Indian nationals for facilitating their return to India on a request basis. According to the minister’s replies, the total number of repatriates include 3,97,106 by land and 3,987 by sea, till January 20, 2021.
The highest number of repatriated Indians are from Kerala (9,62,306), followed by Delhi (8,35,093), Maharashtra (3,80,334) and Tamil Nadu (3,44,937). Uttar Pradesh (2,59,537), Telangana (2,22,274) and Karnataka (2,13,917) are the other states with more than one lakh repatriated Indians.