Dubai: The Indian missions in the UAE have opened online registration for the expatriates who wish to fly back home after getting stuck in the country amidst the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday night, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi announced the details of data collection through the website of the Indian Consulate in Dubai, the Gulf News reported.

"It is informed that the Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General of India, Dubai, have started a database to register Indians wishing to travel back to India under COVID-19 situation. The details can be entered through the website of the Embassy www.indianembassyuae.gov.in or Consulate www.cgidubai.gov.in by following the link 'Register in Database of Indians to Travel Back to India under COVID-19 situation'," India in Dubai tweeted on Thursday.

"These can also be entered by following the link www.cgidubai.gov.in/covid_register," it tweeted.

However, minutes after posting the tweet, the mission deleted it citing technical issues. It seemed some users were having trouble accessing the page, the report said.

On Thursday, the Consulate General of India in Dubai reposted the link, warning it may take "some time for the page to load due to high traffic," the report said.

The Abu Dhabi mission earlier clarified that the purpose of the form is only to collect information to enable the Government of India to plan for the return of Indians from abroad under the present COVID-19 situation, the report added.

This form is to be filled for a single individual at a time. Families need to fill separate forms for each member, it said.

Similarly, for companies, a separate form has to be filled for each employee. It was also clarified that the decision on resumption of passenger flights to India will be taken in due course, the report said.

Tens of thousands of Indian expats are expected to register their details, it said. On April 10, the government said a decision to bring Indians stranded abroad will be taken after reviewing the COVID-19 situation.

Ministry of External Affairs Additional Secretary Dammu Ravi said, "Some questions have come about Indians abroad. It is a situation where we cannot give a definite answer because the lockdown is still there. We need to assess the situation It will be the government's decision on how we manage the return of Indians from other countries."

Indian expatriate community of approximately 3.42 millions is reportedly the largest ethnic community in UAE constituting roughly about 30 per cent of the country's population, as per the International Migrant Stock 2019 released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), according to the Indian Embassy.

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New Delhi, Apr 25: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought time from him to explain in person the party's 'Nyay Patra'.

In his two-page letter, he told the prime minister that he is being misinformed by his advisors about things that are not even written in the 'Nyay Patra' -- the Congress' manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.

The letter comes after the prime minister attacked the Congress over its manifesto, alleging that the party aims to "redistribute the wealth" of people and give it away to "infiltrators".

Modi also accused the Congress of snatching women's "mangalsutra".

In his letter, Kharge said the Congress' 'Nyay Patra' aims at providing "nyay (justice)" to the youngsters, women, farmers, labourers and marginalised people across all castes and communities.

"It has become your habit to seize on a few words taken out of context and create a communal divide. You are lowering the dignity of the chair by speaking in this manner," he said.

"You are being misinformed by your advisors about things that are not even written in our manifesto. I would be more than happy to meet you in person to explain our 'Nyay Patra' so that, as prime minister of the country, you don't make any statements that are false," he added.

The Congress chief also said he is neither shocked nor surprised by the language used by the prime minister in his recent speeches.

"It was expected that you and other leaders from your party would start speaking in this manner after you saw the dismal performance of the BJP in the first phase of the elections," Kharge said in the letter.

The Congress has been talking about the deprived poor and their rights ("nyay"), he said and added, "We are aware that you and your government do not have any concern for the poor and dispossessed."

"Your 'suit-boot ki sarkar' works for the corporates whose taxes you reduced while the salaried class pays higher taxes. The poor pay GST even on food and salt and the rich corporate claim GST refunds. That is why, when we talk of inequality between the rich and the poor, you are purposely equating it with Hindu and Muslim," Kharge claimed.

"Our manifesto is for the people of India -- whether they are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist. I think you have still not forgotten your pre-Independence allies the Muslim League and colonial masters," he charged.

Kharge claimed the Congress has always served to empower the poor while "you have ruled to snatch the earnings and wealth of the poor".

He said in the letter, "Your government was the one who used demonetisation as an 'organised loot and legalised plunder' to transfer the money deposited by the poor in the banks to the rich in the form of loans. Then, as part a of conscious design, these loans were surreptitiously written off by your government. The lakhs of crores of corporate loans that your government has written off since 2014 is a transfer of wealth from poor to rich. No farmer's loans, artisan's loans, MSME loans or student loans were waived off by you."

"You and your government have repeatedly turned away from the atrocities that the poor and backward women are facing … Today, you talk about their 'mangalsutra'. Isn't your government responsible for the atrocities against women in Manipur, against Dalit girls, garlanding of rapists? When farmers are committing suicide under your government, how are you protecting their wives and children?," Kharge asked.

The Congress chief suggested that Modi read about "Nari Nyay" that, he said, the party will implement when its comes to power.

Kharge also advised the prime minister to not "get carried away by your own people who are clapping at your speeches".

"They are not allowing you to hear the crores of right-thinking citizens who are disappointed by your speeches," the Congress chief said.

Sharing Kharge's letter on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge ji has just written to the prime minister, saying that he would be happy to meet him to explain the reality of the Congress' 'Nyay Patra', which Mr Modi may have missed in his persistent efforts to distort and defame it."