A group of close to 31000 Indians living abroad have come together on social media in these COVID-hit times to help those who wish to return to their homeland.
'SOS Global Indians' on Facebook was started by Michael Khanna, a Texas-based marketing consultant.
What began as a query page for Indians in the US just when the Modi-led government announced a countrywide lockdown, has now expanded to include all those stranded across the globe and keen on heading back either due to job loss or sickness/death in their family in India.
On how he is dealing with the multiple requests pouring in, Khanna says, "We are non-commercial and are working through a team of volunteers who feel connected to the issues since they are impacted as well. A 20-member team, including doctors and specialists, work on various aspects and issues to bring better focus and resolution."
Though Facebook is currently the primary platform for communication, Khanna is also active on Twitter and in touch with Indian officials there.
He says the team acts as swiftly as possible depending on the severity of the issue.
"We take up matters that are most pressing with support from our members. Everything is very transparent and the posts are organically driving the conversations in the group. The focus is on crisis response and any member with a dire emergency can flag their issues. Team members rally together to provide the right kind of support with urgency.
"In due course, we plan to bring more structure and professionalism to the operations to help create a better impact and improve efficiency. Now is the time we need the support of valued partners who can help drive the message that we're trying our best to help fellow overseas Indians, with the most genuine of intentions," he tells The New Indian Express.
Even though the government-initiated Vande Bharat Mission has brought back several Indians stranded in other countries, many people have turned to this group to seek help.
"When online bookings opened, the Air India website crashed and people turned to this group to understand the tips and tricks that would help them book a ticket. This was followed by sharing of experiences of onward journey, embassy forms, consulate calls, quarantine rules and practically everything under the sun to return to their home country," says Shruti Sahu, a volunteer with the group.
Nature of queries
The members of the group, on a daily basis, post constant updates.
A majority of the posts deal with flight schedules and updates under the Vande Bharat Mission, preparing elderly parents stuck in the US for the long journey back, making their medicines available during lockdown in India, work visa-related queries under the new rules, and even helping out students who were asked to leave their dorms, universities without any food or shelter options.
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"The suspension is for a series of visa classes and not just H1B. It'll be revisited later this year in December. Our group has a majority of people who are impacted by the international travel ban to India, and hence most of the conversation at present is around this issue. However, we are making efforts to update and build discussion points around this development so that members impacted by it can find benefit from the information provided.
"We are also in the process of estimating how many people impacted by this are in our group (or have come in because of it). The group queries have grown after this news and we're preparing to respond with next steps. We're also looking at steps being taken by other competent authorities in the US," says Khanna.
When it comes to students being asked to return to their home countries if their classes have gone digital, the group is keeping a close watch on the developments and have immigration consultants on board who are trying to understand the actual impact of the ruling.
"Since this is a matter under consideration, much is yet to be clarified still. We're letting the experts in the field get a complete picture first before taking any decisions on behalf of our group members. We will soon estimate how many students in our group are impacted. Many leading universities have taken up the matter with the US government and we are here to support our members in every manner possible,” Khanna says.
With an aim to help the Indian diaspora, the group is looking at challenges as opportunities that have not been tapped in to yet.
"We represent a large set of overseas Indians who are impacted by common issues. With help from relevant authorities within the Indian government, the group is trying its level best to address these concerns," says Khanna.
Requesting for more transparency and inclusiveness, the group feels Indian authorities should engage more closely with them.
"We need more engagement and hope that the authorities take our feedback while planning logistics and protocols when it comes to providing real-time solutions. We have filed petitions, sent our requests through social media to those who are involved in decision making. The team has been working on ground to coordinate and smoothen the overall process,” he says.