BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said he has requested External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for direct repatriation of Odias stranded abroad to Bhubaneswar. Expatriate Odias residing in Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) countries had requested Pradhan to facilitate their return during a video conferencing on Sunday.
“Yesterday, I had interacted with the Odia community members in the GCC countries; would urge to consider their request for repatriation directly to Bhubaneswar; also request to similarly bring back Odia brothers and sisters from other regions of the world,” he tweeted. He said the Centre has decided to bring back expatriate Indians stuck up in different parts of the world.
Pradhan expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Saha and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for timely decision to bring back Indian nationals from abroad. “The Indian embassies and High Commissions are preparing a list of distressed expatriate Indians stuck up in different countries. Non-scheduled commercial flights would be arranged for air travel and this facility will be made available on payment-basis. The travel would begin in a phased manner from May 7,” he said.