Highlights
* Telangana Gulf returnee migrant workers paid hotel charges of up to Rs.10 Crore (Rs.100 Million) and air fares of up to Rs 40 Crore (Rs.400 Million)
* Central and state governments are trading millions of rupees on Gulf workers during the Corona crisis.
The Government of India had launched the Vande Bharat Mission on May 7, 2020 to bring back Indian citizens stranded abroad due to the Corona Crisis. Under the mission, an estimated 20,000 migrants have arrived at Hyderabad Airport from the Gulf countries and the Telangana government has provided free quarantine to about 5,500 of them.
However, the government has withdrawn the free quarantine facility on the pretext that it is becoming difficult to implement social distance protocols at the quarantine centers. About 14,500 returnees paid Rs. 7,000 per person as hotel quarantine costing them a whopping Rs.10 Crore in total.
A seat in flights to Hyderabad from the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain is costing an average of 1,000 UAE Dirhams, Saudi / Qatari Riyals or approximately Rs. 20,000 per person. Around 20,000 migrants have spent Rs.20,000 each from their pocket (amounting to Rs. 40 Crore in total) to purchase air tickets and return home. Chartered flights from the Gulf to Hyderabad are more expensive than Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights.
The Governments of Kerala and Maharashtra are allowing ‘Home Quarantine’ for the passengers coming from abroad. The governments of Andhra Pradesh and Delhi are providing paid hotel quarantine as well as free quarantine to the poor migrant workers who are coming from the Gulf region.
Question remains, what is stopping the Government of Telangana to allow for home quarantine like Kerala and Maharashtra?
