Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi the deep angst of Keralites waiting for the return of the mortal remains of their kin who had died in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries due to reasons other than COVID-19.
In a letter to the Prime Minister on Friday, Mr. Vijayan said the GCC countries required the Indian embassies there to give a “clearance certificate” to local authorities as a precursor to allowing the return of the mortal remains to the country.
The embassies, in turn, were insisting that the relatives of the deceased procure a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Minister of Home Affairs (MHA), New Delhi, as a precondition for issuing the certification.
The position taken by embassies contradicted the stance of the Central government, which had declared that a no-objection certificate from the MHA is not mandatory for importing the mortal remains of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) who had died due to causes other than COVID-19 in GCC countries.
Mr. Vijayan said the coffins could be easily transported as cargo on freight airliners. He sought the personal intervention of the Prime Minister to address the profoundly emotive issue.
The Chief Minister sought a direction from the Centre, instructing embassies to issue necessary clearances to bring home the mortal remains of the deceased persons without their relatives having to seek approvals from the MHA individually.
Mr. Vijayan’s letter comes at a time when the Opposition was attempting to make a political issue of returning home Keralites stranded in the Gulf. Congress leader M.M. Hassan is scheduled to hold a sit-in in front of the Raj Bhavan seeking special flights to ferry them back home.
The party had also blamed the Centre and the State for doing little to help the significant number of COVID-19 hit Keralite blue-collar workers confined in cramped labour camps in the Gulf.
