UAE: New support group to rescue distressed Indian expatriates

Aimed at assisting distressed Indians across the globe, a new support group has been established by a retired diplomat, social workers, and a Dubai-based businessman. ‘Rescuing Every Distressed Indian Overseas’ (Redio) will employ volunteers across the world to assist overseas Indian citizens in dire circumstances.

Registered as a non-governmental organisation in Delhi, expatriates can reach out to the volunteer-run initiative through a soon-to-launched interactive website and social media channels.

The new initiative was spearheaded by a former secretary with the Ministry of External Affairs in India and consul general of India in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay with the support of several Indian national volunteers across the world.

Following the formalisation of the NGO on January 1 this year, Mulay told Khaleej Times: “There is a huge space for the civil society to contribute. We work in a complementary manner… like an interface with the Indian diplomatic missions.” He added: “Since we made our intention public, we have received several emails and messages and people have begun actively reaching out. We are looking to launch an interactive portal where people can call on a number or leave the message.”

The organisation has already deployed 25 volunteers across 25 countries. “We have 11 people in the executive committee.”

From the UAE, businessman Rahul Tulpule, who is responsible for the Mena affairs of the group, said: “While the immediate needs of those requiring repatriation due to pandemic-triggered job losses have been largely resolved, there are still job seeker issues and more recently, due to the travel restrictions to Saudi Arabia, a lot of Indians are getting stranded in Dubai.”

Tuplule said he is involved in the organizational development of Redio by working with all the Indian missions in the region. Tulpule explained, “We become the channel to guide these individuals to the right person in the missions.”

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

Dhanusha Gokulan

Originally from India, Dhanusha Gokulan has been working as a journalist for 10 years. She has a keen interest in writing about issues that plague the common person and will never turn down a human interest story. She completed her Bachelor in Arts in Journalism, Economics and English Literature from Mangalore University in 2008. In her spare time, she dabbles with some singing/songwriting, loves travelling and Audible is her favourite mobile application. Tweet at her @wordjunkie88