THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Get to any corner of earth and you will run into a Malayali there, goes the jibe. A glance at the list of Keralites who have expressed interest on the Norka website to return underlines that fact. Malayalis in 201 countries and territories are eager to come back! “As many as 3.53 lakh non-resident Keralites living in 201 countries have registered on the portal within 72 hours of its opening,” NORKARoots CEO Harikrishnan Namboothiri K told TNIE.
Are there so many countries in the world, you may wonder. “Some of the nations from where registrations were made are not recognised independent countries. Some Commonwealth of Independent States were not recognised as countries until recently.
Similarly, there are several territories still under the control of other countries. But it’s true that we’ve got registration from these places as well, indicating that Malayalis are everywhere,” he said.
Despite the mind-boggling response in 72 hours, Norka authorities do not expect any major surge in numbers in the coming days. It would be less than 4 lakh if there are no major global developments in the pandemic outbreak. Keralites in the Gulf countries account for a lion’s share of the registrations, with UAE leading the table.
A source said: “Though the registration has crossed 3.5 lakh, we expect around 2 lakh NRIs to return — mostly those who lost their employment, whose work/visiting visas have expired and the vulnerable sections.” “A number of expats registered out of the fear that if the situation deteriorates, they would miss the opportunity,” said a source.