Vande Bharat Mission: 67.5 lakh people repatriated to India

New Delhi, Mar 22: India’s massive evacuation programme called the 'Vande Bharat Mission', triggered by the COVID 19 pandemic, has brought back over 67.5 Lakh people from abroad. India had commenced one of the world's largest evacuation operations from May 7, 2020, in order to bring back its stranded citizens from abroad.

 

 

 

Initially, Air India and its subsidiary Air India express played a key role in the operations. Afterwards, other air carriers were allowed to take part in the programme. Besides aerial evacuation, even naval ships were used to bring back Indian citizens.

 

The recent information was shared through twitter where the Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a tweet that 67.5 Lakh people have been brought back and the numbers continue to grow. He said “It is not just a mission that brought back stranded & distressed citizens from around the world, but Vande Bharat has been a Mission of hope & happiness; of letting people know that they will not be left behind even in the most testing times.”

 

 

The Indian nationals stranded overseas due to the global corona virus lockdown are expected to return under the Vande Bharat Mission. Further, the Indian Navy has also launched Operation 'Samudra Setu' to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas. The Vande Bharat Mission is also considered as the largest exercise to bring back Indian citizens, since the evacuation of 1,77,000 citizens from the Gulf region in early 1990s at the start of hostilities between Iraq and Kuwait during the first Gulf War.

 

 

 

The mission has given priority to Indian citizens with 'compelling reasons to return' , such as those whose employment have been terminated, those whose visas have expired and not expected to be renewed under the present circumstances and those who have lost family members in recent times. The entire cost of travel will be borne by the passengers under the mission.