Indian airlines' charge to repatriate bodies from UAE painful
Abu Dhabi: An expat's death isn't just a painful experience for family back home but it turns out to be a harrowing one for friends, beloved ones or colleagues here in the UAE.
It takes a while to get the formalities of paperwork done and for an Indian expat, there is an additional cost for transporting the body back to India. Airlines charge between Dh16 to Dh25 per kg, which includes weight of the body and coffin.
MM Nasar Kanhangad, a social worker who has been helping with repatriation process for years now, said the practice is agonising and is a big challenge.
"In most cases where a blue collar worker is involved we will come to know of their death a day or two later. I will run for the paperwork and then we also need to raise money for the air tickets," Kanhangad said while narrating cases of the deaths of poor workers like Beeraka Pushpavati, a house maid, and Vipan Singh, a mould maker, where he had to seek help from the Indian Embassy and social welfare associations to meet the requirements.
"The charges vary from airline to airline. The overall costs range between Dh2,500 to Dh3,000. Friends of the deceased can barely manage the amount, which is equivalent to one to two months' of their salary. Indian government must look into this issue," Kanhangad said while highlighting the role played by the Indian Embassy to help the expats.
Indian Ambassador Navdeep Singh Suri noted that the embassy through its Indian Community Welfare Fund has been providing assistance to the needy.
"The embassy has been doing this on a regular basis for all those who can't afford. Be it embalming of the body, expense of coffin or air ticket, the embassy has always stepped in," the ambassador said.
Suri clarified that with the population of Indian expats in the UAE totaling to 3.5 million that it hadn't been possible for the mission to provide financial help in every case.
In this regard, Abu Dhabi-based social worker N Harikumar has been raising the issue at various forums for a while. "This is a painful thing. Majority of people cannot afford the costs. So, the Indian government must act," said Harikumar, who is India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's NRI Cell Kerala convener.
Meanwhile, BJP's Kerala president Kummanam Rajasekharan, on a short visit to the UAE, said that the issue has been raised with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On March 30, Rajasekharan met Modi and tabled the grievances of the expats. He is hopeful about the issue getting addressed soon.
"On Tuesday, I spoke to VK Singh, India's Minister of State for External Affairs. I have requested him that, just like how Pakistan bears the expenses for the bodies of the expatriates to be repatriated back, India too should take a similar step," Rajasekharan added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BJP's Suvendu urges Bengal Guv to order independent judicial inquiry into Messi event fiasco
Kolkata(PTI): Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday wrote to Governor C V Ananda Bose, seeking an independent judicial inquiry into “administrative incompetence” and “public humiliation of citizens”at the Salt Lake Stadium here during an event featuring football legend Lionel Messi.
In his letter, Adhikari alleged that the stadium, built with public funds, was converted into a “private durbar” for political elites, resulting in humiliation and harassment of spectators who had purchased tickets.
"I write this communication with a profound sense of anguish, constitutional alarm, and moral urgency. What unfolded at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan was not merely an episode of administrative incompetence, it was a public humiliation of citizens, a grotesque exhibition of unrestrained political privilege, and a direct assault on the rule of law in the presence of thousands of witnesses," Adhikari asserted.
He claimed that football fans were denied basic amenities and dignified viewing due to unchecked VIP presence, obstruction of sightlines, and arbitrary restrictions.
Chaos unfolded at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday, after spectators resorted to vandalism on failing to catch a glimpse of Messi, alleging gross mismanagement by the organisers and obstruction of views by VIPs.
Police arrested the event’s prime organiser, Satadru Datta, while Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the constitution of a high-level inquiry committee to probe the incident.
Adhikari, in his letter, held the sports department, police authorities and the minister-in-charge of sports and youth affairs responsible, alleging that the situation was “enabled, if not orchestrated”, by the state administration.
He claimed that the conduct of the authorities reflected indifference to public accountability and misuse of power.
The senior BJP leader also took exception to the inquiry committee announced by the chief minister, contending that it lacked independence and credibility.
Adhikari said the panel is headed by Justice (Retd) Asim Ray, who currently holds a statutory post under the administrative control of the state government, and includes senior bureaucrats whose actions are under scrutiny.
"This committee is structurally compromised, legally infirm, and morally indefensible," he said in the letter to the governor.
Adhikari urged Bose to exercise his constitutional authority to order the formation of a truly independent inquiry committee.
He proposed that the committee be headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, and assisted by persons of unimpeachable integrity with no institutional, administrative or political affiliation with the state government.
“The issue transcends football, politics, and personalities. It concerns the right of citizens to be treated with dignity, the obligation of the state to act as trustee of public interest, and the duty of constitutional authorities to intervene when the executive becomes a law unto itself,” Adhikari said.
Later, speaking to reporters, he accused the state government of mismanaging the situation at Salt Lake Stadium, and demanded the resignation of the CM.
Adhikari said all those responsible for the fiasco should be arrested, and spectators must be provided refunds.
He alleged that senior Trinamool Congress leaders and their associates crowded around Messi, leaving thousands of fans at the stadium deprived of catching a clear glimpse of the football star.
“This was a case of misuse of power at the cost of ordinary citizens. The chief minister must take moral responsibility, those responsible for the incident should be arrested, and every fan who was cheated must get a refund,” Adhikari asserted.
He added that public anger would not subside without accountability and corrective action.
