1,972 Indians brought back to Maharashtra under Vande Bharat Mission

Around 1,972 Indians have been brought to Maharashtra, under Vande Bharat Mission, started to bring back stranded Indian nationals from May 7. All have been kept

Around 1,972 Indians have been brought to Maharashtra, under Vande Bharat Mission, started to bring back stranded Indian nationals from May 7. All have been kept under institutional quarantine facility developed by the state government for 14 days, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday.

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Of them, 822 are from Mumbai, 1,025 are from other parts of the state and the rest 125 are from other states of the country. With the help of 13 flights, these Indians have been brought back from ten different countries of the world. Thackeray said that they are expecting more people under the mission as 27 more flights are expected to be operated.

As per tentative plan provided by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 2,609 passengers were expected to arrive at Mumbai airport in the first phase of the mission, said a senior official, requesting anonymity. Over 1.88 lakh Indians have registered with MEA to return to the country so far, of them 13,403 are from Maharashtra, he said.

Maximum 653 Indians have been brought back from London (England), 243 from Singapore, 208 from New York (United States), 201 from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), 195 from Chicago (United States), 150 from Manila (Philippines), 107 from San Francisco (United States), 107 from Dhaka (Bangladesh), 78 from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), 16 from Muscat (Oman) and 12 have been brought from Kabul in Afghanistan.

Thackeray said all those who are from Mumbai have been kept in institutional quarantine facilities developed at various hotels in the city, while who are from other parts of the state have been sent to the respective districts. “We have also kept all those in Mumbai who are not from Maharashtra but their states have refused to take them back as of now,” said the chief minister.

Meanwhile, the state government has employed 5.92 lakh labourers under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). The chief minister office in a statement issued on Tuesday said they have started 46,530 works under the scheme and has provided employment to 5,92,525 workers in the state. All the district collectors have been directed to employ all those who want work.