BHUBANESWAR: Non-resident Odias abroad have sought urgent intervention of Centre to enable smooth repatriation of bodies of deceased migrants to the state as the process has been badly affected after Air India scrapped its service to Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) in Bhubaneswar three months back.
Social worker and Bahrain Odia Samaj founder Arun Kumar Praharaj, who put forth the grievance before Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan in this regard recently, said earlier Air India was flying to Bhubaneswar via Delhi or Mumbai making it possible to send coffins to the state.
“However, after Air India terminated its flight services to Bhubaneswar completely since the last three months, it has become extremely difficult to ensure timely handover of the body of a deceased Odia migrant to the family back home,” Praharaj said.He said as per the information received from the employer companies, only Air India has the authority to carry coffin from abroad as all embassies have tie-up with the national carrier.
After suspension of the flight service to Bhubaneswar, the nearest airport to which it carries a coffin is Visakhapattnam or Kolkata. “This make it extremely difficult for the poor families of the migrants as a hearse van or ambulance charges Rs 18,000 or more to transport body to anywhere in the state. Besides, it also delays transport of the coffin. This problem is faced by Odias in many middle-east countries, including Bahrain,” he said.
Praharaj called for immediate steps to resume Air India services to Bhubaneswar or alternative arrangement should be done with Indigo or any other connecting airline to carry the coffin to Bhubaneswar. He also demanded that registration of employment contracts of migrant workers with respective Indian embassies should be made compulsory to empower the embassies to take necessary actions for resolving the issues faced by migrant workers.