Combating coronavirus: UAE expats' first flight to Odisha lands on Thursday

Till date there has never been a direct flight from Dubai to Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha.

As India's biggest-ever repatriation exercise to bring back its citizens stranded abroad gather steam, UAE expatriates from the Indian state of Odisha had managed to initiate and arrange the first ever direct flight from Dubai to Bhubaneswar in order to repatriate hundreds of Odias looking to get back to their home country amid the Covid-19 pandemic crisis.
The flight carrying 151 Odias landed on Thursday.
Till date there has never been a direct flight from Dubai to Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha, but keeping in mind the circumstances, the Odisha government on the advice of the Consulate General of India as well as the Odia community in the UAE, the exception has been made, Amiya Kumar Mishra, president of the Odisha Samaj UAE told exclusively to Khaleej Times.
The historic direct flight from Dubai to the capital and largest city of Odisha will take off from Dubai International Airport on May 14, Thursday carrying 179 Odias.

Pleased to welcome the 1st flight in to Odisha. AI Flt 1996 hs just landed in Bhubaneswar bringing back 151 Indians frm Dubai

Thank @airindiain @MoCA_GoI &Odisha Govt fr support& cooperation

Keep up the good work Team @cgidubai under CG Vipul @dpradhanbjp #VandeBharatMission
- Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 14, 2020

Elaborating, Mishra said: "We at Odisha Samaj UAE initiated talks with the external affairs ministry in India, government of Odisha as well as the Indian Consulate in Dubai after realizing that there are over 300 Odias who were in dire straits due to the pandemic situation and were looking to head home. We are grateful to the chief minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik; Indian cabinet minister Dharmendra Pradhan who is currently the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and of Steel; Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and CG Vipul and his team from the Indian consulate in Dubai who at once took the matter seriously and arranged this first ever direct flight from Dubai to Bhubaneswar. For now only 179 Odias will be repatriated and for the rest we are still working on the request and logistics part of it."
Members of the Odisha Samaj UAE, the largest association of non-resident Odias across the region, said we collected the names of around 300 Odias names who have registered at the CGI website for repatriation.
Although Odisha's name was not on the list of the scheduled flights that are repatriating stranded Indians abroad but since we saw that such a big chunk of Odias are stuck here, mostly blue-collar workers, we requested the Indian government to organize a direct flight and they have conceded to our demand of at least getting one flight for now. So the Indian consulate is now finalizing the list of the most needy passengers who will be prioritized on this flight. Only 179 people can be accommodated on this direct flight by Air India, therefore we are now helping the CGI in conveying the messages to the Odia people who are selected for the flight.
Mishra said that since most of the people looking to be repatriated are labourers who have difficulty understanding Hindi or English, members of the Odisha Samaj UAE are helping the consulate members in making calls to the registered workers and conveying the message in their native language.
Pointing at the active interest the Indian minister Pradhan, who hails from Odisha, showed in helping Odias stuck abroad in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, Mishra said: " To understand the situation of Odias stuck abroad, Mr Pradhan initiated a Zoom call with the heads of Odia communities in the GCC countries and after consulting with us he pushed the proposal to the external affairs minister, who finally approved the permission for this special flight.|"
Most of the people who will be able to board the historic flight from Dubai to Odisha will be blue-collar workers, pregnant women, elderly, those who have lost their jobs and are unable to make ends meet. The Indian consulate will select and priortise people for this flight and a list will be sent out by tonight to Air India, Mishra said.
Consul General of India Vipul confirmed the news to Khaleej Times and said: " Yes the first direct flight from Dubai to Bhubaneswar will take off on May 14."
saman@khaleejtimes.com