Kerala, which has led the world in the fight against Coronavirus, has set another example of taking the lead in bringing back the Keralites now struck in other countries. As a first step, the state opened registration for these people through the Department for Non-Resident Keralites Affairs. Within hours of opening the registration, about 2.3 lakh Keralites expressed their hope to return to the state.
The registration has to be done at https://www.registernorkaroots.org/. The process of registration stared on April 26. As per reports, the largest registration was from the UAE. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain followed the UAE. About ten per cent of the Kerala Population lives outside the state. The Kerala government has not set any deadline for the registration and more expatriates are expected to register in the coming days.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has been hailed for his Ministry’s efforts in the fight against Covid 19, said in a Facebook post that the registration was required for making arrangements for accommodating them. He also mentioned that this was not for prioritizing flight ticket reservation. However, pregnant women, people whose visa got expired, people affected with diseases other than Coronavirus, people who went abroad on visiting visa, students will be given priority.
He said that all arrangements were made to test the passengers at airports. They will be moved for observation or quarantine as per the test results. The state government has already set up about 300,000 hospital beds in make-shift buildings.
The Centre has already informed the state about its plan to operate chartered flights to bring the Indians who wish to come back. The state has informed the Centre about the arrangements made to quarantine those who return from abroad.
