Indians in UAE seek aid for expat COVID-19 victims’ families back home

Dubai: Indian expats in the UAE have began taking authorized steps and submitting petitions, demanding the Indian authorities to incorporate ex gratia aid for families of expats dying attributable to COVID-19.

Various Indian group teams right here had already urged the Indian authorities to offer monetary help to the families of expat victims of COVID-19.

Last week, India’s Supreme Court had directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to suggest pointers inside six weeks for ex gratia to members of the family of those that misplaced their lives because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Indian expats have demanded that the federal government ought to deliver expat victims additionally underneath the ambit of the rules to be set for disbursing financial help.

Dubai-based Indian advocate and authorized advisor Hashik T.Okay, who had filed a petition relating to the identical final yr, stated he was nonetheless pursuing the case with renewed vigour after the current directive of the Supreme Court. “I had filed the petition through advocate Deepak Prakash seeking a uniform policy for compensation to families of Indian COVID-19 victims. Since that plea was not entertained last year, I have joined as a petitioner to the latest PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the Supreme Court,” Hashik advised Gulf News.

He stated the petition sought to invoke the articles of the Indian Constitution that mandates equality for all, irrespective of faith, race, caste, intercourse, native land and so on. “Indians working abroad, especially those who do not have another citizenship in the Gulf countries, should also be brought under this as there should not be any discrimination based on their place of work. Many Indians have died due to COVID-19 in the GCC, including the UAE. Most of them were the sole breadwinners of their families and they deserve ex gratia assistance from the government,” he added.

Pravasi Legal Cell, a non-governmental organisation championing the reason for Non Resident Indians, is ready to current a memorandum to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Currently, the Supreme Court has not made any mention about including the expats while forming the guidelines for the COVID-19 ex gratia. Hence, we are urging the PM through Supreme Court advocate Jose Abraham, who is also the global chairman of the Pravasi Legal Cell, to ensure that expats are covered in the guidelines. We are ready to move the court if it doesn’t happen,” stated Sreedharan Prasad, country-head of Pravasi Legal Cell, UAE.

Sharjah Malayali Koottayma, a group group of expats from Kerala, stated it will even be submitting a memorandum to prime ministers of the central and state governments. “There are many expats’ families suffering a lot after the death of their loved ones. They also have the liability of paying the loans taken by those expats. They deserve support from the government. We will try to get maximum support for the memorandum with digital signatures of expats through social media,” stated president Dinil Kumar Madathil.

Officials of one other expat organisation, Incas UAE, additionally urged the federal government to think about the plight of the families of hundreds of Indians who've died overseas attributable to COVID-19 whereas giving reduction to such families of resident Indian residents.

Meanwhile, Lulu group chairman M.A. Yusuffali, who can also be a UAE-based director of Norka Roots, a public sector endeavor for the welfare of expats from Kerala, stated Norka would take up the difficulty by way of the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan.

Seeking the record of expat COVID-19 victims, he stated he would ship it to the Chief Minister. “The court has asked the [central government] to formulate the criteria for the ex gratia in this case. Once the guidelines are made we will see if there are any concerns related to the expats. We will definitely take up such concerns, if any, through the Chief Minister,” stated Yusuffali.