Financial aid will be disbursed from Saturday to COVID-19-affected Non-Resident Keralites (NoRKs) who had returned to the State and NoRKs who got stranded here because of the infection-induced travel restrictions.
The assistance will be distributed through NoRKA-Roots and the Kerala Pravasi Welfare Fund.
The government is extending ₹5,000 as emergency financial assistance to all those who had returned to Kerala after January 1 and could not return due to the ban on international flights. The emergency relief will also be given to NoRKs whose visas expired during the lockdown that commenced on March 25.
15,000 beneficiaries
The NoRKs can apply online on the NoRKA-Roots official website www.norkaroots.org. The government expects 15,000 NoRKs to benefit from the scheme that is estimated to cost ₹8 crore, according to Harikrishnan Namboothiri K., Chief Executive Officer, NoRKA-Roots.
All COVID-19 patients who are members of the NoRKA welfare fund will be provided with ₹10,000 by the government as a one-time financial assistance. COVID-19 has been included in Santhwana, a scheme launched for returned NoRKs in distress. Those who had been infected abroad and had returned to the State will be eligible for ₹10,000.
The Santhwana scheme is applicable to those who had not returned from the State after working abroad for two or more years and who had not completed 10 years, the CEO said.
Application process
The NoRKs should upload their name, address, mobile number, passport number, address pages, travel information page, passport, invoice document, visa page and bank details for processing the application. The deadline for applying online for assistance is April 30.
NoRKA-Roots has started extending legal aid to the NoRKs in the United Arab Emirates through help desks set up with local participation. The NoRKs can approach the help desks for legal assistance on labour issues. The requests will be handed over to the legal consultants to provide assistance, he said.
The CEO said the help desks set up in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, West Asia, Europe, Africa, and Indonesia have been receiving overwhelming response from the NoRKs.
