The central government has informed the Madras High Court that 17,701 people from Tamil Nadu stranded in various countries have been brought back by 50 flights due to the corona virus. On a petition filed by the DMK, the Ministry of External Affairs submitted a counter affidavit seeking details of bringing Tamil people from abroad due to the suspension of covid-19 and flights. The ministry said that 45,242 people from Tamil Nadu stranded in various countries have requested to return.
Earlier, this petition came for hearing on Wednesday before the Division Bench of Justices R Subbaiah and Krishnan Ramasamy. Due to non-availability of affidavit by the Ministry of External Affairs, the court adjourned the hearing till June 29.
In its statement, the Ministry said in a counter affidavit that 4 lakh 87 thousand 303 Indian nationals stranded in various countries have been requested to return, out of which 2 lakh 63 thousand 187 have been recovered. A total of 1,248 flights are to be used for this mission. It said that according to the standard operating procedure issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs through 'Vande Bharat Mission' and 'Operation Samudra Setu', work is being done to bring back the stranded Indians from abroad.
For your information, let us tell you that the court had directed the Center to file a status report on the number of people who have registered with various Indian embassies abroad to return home. The DMK, in its petition, has demanded a directive from the Tamil Nadu government to allow the landing of aircraft to bring back stranded Indians to various countries. Apart from this, the court also sought details on the number of flights operated for people under the 'Vande Bharat' mission.
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