THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring back stranded NRIs, the state government has begun elaborate arrangements to deal with the possible inflow of expatriates. High-level, inter-departmental coordinated efforts are on for data collection, assessment and preparation of identity cards for Keralite students studying abroad and setting up of mass quarantine facilities to accommodate them. Facilities for about two lakh people are being set up. As per the assessment of Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA), about 25,000 people may come back from Gulf countries.
The government has started preparing a database of Keralite students studying abroad. Smart cards with identity details are to be made for them. Sources said the existing software on NRK data is being modified with the help of KPMG to incorporate the students’ details. “Teams have been set up with officials from various departments and the Secretariat as members to work exclusively on data collection and compilation in this regard,” said a source. The state is seriously considering the case of Keralite students studying abroad. With educational institutions closed down, many of them want to come back. Many of these students were engaged in part-time jobs.
Those establishments have also been closed down. Families back home have been putting pressure on the authorities to bring them back. Meanwhile, more than one lakh beds have already been set up and another one lakh will soon be ready. A time gap is expected before the NRIs start arriving. Once they arrive, they will have to be under 14 days of government quarantine and another 14 days of house quarantine so accommodating them should not pose a problem.
“Those who wish to come back will be brought back in staggered phases. We don’t think lakhs of people will return,” said the source. “Those who went on visiting visas, those who failed to find a job, those who lost jobs, those whose visas have expired and others in similar scenarios may return. At the most, 25,000 people may return from Gulf countries. Even if two lakh come back, we have facilities to accommodate them,” said NORKA-Roots vice-chairman K Varadarajan. The state is currently preparing facilities in schools, colleges, other educational institutions and facilities set up at religious institutions to accommodate the NRIs.
Prepping up
High-level, inter-departmental coordinated efforts on for data collection, assessment and preparation of ID cards for Keralite students studying abroad and setting up quarantine facilities to accommodate them
Smart cards with identity details are to be made for students studying abroad
Existing software on NRK data being modified to include students’ details
More than one lakh beds set up; another one lakh to be ready soon