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Let me start by talking about the Vande Bharat Mission first. The first flight from Kerala has already taken off. Indian Navy ships have also entered the port of Male. The government is trying to recover almost 15,000 Indians stranded abroad. However, many say that the number of people who wish to return to their country will be much higher. At a time like this, how is the ministry preparing for such high demand?
Let me start by making some context adjustments. He described this as an important evacuation exercise. As far as I know, this is the largest program and process for the evacuation of Indian citizens that has been attempted; bigger in terms of numbers. But there is another defining characteristic, which is that it is taking place in a very difficult set of circumstances. A normal evacuation is quite difficult because you have to link many logistical points, you have to take people in land transport, you have to put them on planes or on a naval ship and then you have to take them. But here, you have another problem, which is the risk of the infection spreading during transport.
We take our time and develop a comprehensive program. The number of jobs we are using for this program is 190,000 people. But when we started the exercise, it became very clear that the total number might have to exceed 190,000. But at the moment, we are limiting ourselves to 190,000 in the first week of operations starting today. We will carry something close to 14,800 passengers on 64 flights between today and May 13. This requires inspection of passengers before boarding flights and in-flight security procedures and precautions. It requires certain procedures to be followed at the landing point at different airports and, more importantly, it requires the state governments involved to establish mandatory paid quarantine provisions for all passengers entering for a period of 14 days.
How safe am I? I think we have done our bit. All interested; the airline, our embassies, state governments, the ministry of internal affairs, the ministry of health, we have all collaborated and now we will review this daily, which i already do twice a day and we will see after two or three days of the process of evacuation if we are able to increase the number of flights, the number of passengers entering and add more cities and more boarding points. All such decisions will be made within a few days of the progress review.
You were talking about the challenges and the kind of preparations that the ministry, the state governments, and the central government are doing right now regarding quarantining these returning people. Tickets will be self-financing. What about quarantine facilities? Will they be self-financed by people?
Yes, these are paid quarantine facilities. But I understand that there will be different gradations. If you choose a paid quarantine facility, for example in a three-star hotel or something, that’s one. State governments may provide other paid facilities, but those are decisions that each state government will make individually.
He also said there is a possibility that the government may also try to cordon off private airlines throughout this exercise. Have private airlines approached the government for that so far?
I am not aware that any private airline has formally approached us. But perhaps the time for that has not yet come. As I mentioned, we have initially developed a plan to bring back 190,000 stranded or distressed Indian citizens in these countries. During the first week, we are only recovering 14,800, which in a sense is just the tip of the iceberg. Now I have heard statements from some of the private airline operators who have also sent us some signals that if the need arises they will be open to the suggestion. But we have not had any formal discussion with them. They would also like to contribute to the evacuation efforts. The terms and conditions of that contribution can be discussed.
But as I said, it is a problem that we would only address at a later stage when the need arises. For now, Air India and Air India Express, all other parts of the government, such as the naval shifts, etc., are fully prepared to deal with the situation and we will review the situation and, if after a few days, we need to increase the numbers , we will make a decision.
How open is the government to the idea of allowing the rescue of domestic passengers as well? We are getting all kinds of people asking if they are trapped in a state, why is the government not allowing them to fly back to their respective homes? Is that something the government is actively considering now?
I’m not sure who is making the comment, but let me offer some perspective. The government was forced to take measures and order the total closure of the country on March 23 because it was clear at that time that if we did not make that decision, the numbers affected by the virus would grow exponentially and from category 2 or stage 2, we would pass to stage 3. This is an infection that has reached us through travelers coming from abroad. It is not a virus that grew here. We are now a country with one of the largest populations and one of the smallest numbers affected. Today, there are some 50,000 of our citizens affected by the virus; the doubling rate is about 12 days or so. The total number of deaths is only 1,600. I know that one death is too much, but it compares to the situation in the United States or the United Kingdom; 2,000 people died in New York every day.
Now surely, those people who want to travel are not aware of this reality. We had to take drastic measures because we wanted to save our population. Now I realize that sometimes a difficult decision has to be made. As the Prime Minister has said so eloquently, it is the choice between life and livelihood;
jaan and jahan. Now there will come a time when we feel confident to open up the national civil aviation sector. You will find suggestions on social networks that will allow you to easily leave. The Prime Minister is responsible and is fulfilling that responsibility because he has to look at the life and livelihood of the entire population of Rs 135 million. Now there is a blockade here for national and international traffic, and yet the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior and the rest of the government have agreed to carry out this evacuation. Why? Because these are our citizens with whom we have an obligation. They are stranded and distressed. Many of them do not have visas, many of them do not have a job, many of them face deportation; so they are a priority.
Our general approach is to stay where you are and stay safe, but these people cannot continue to stay there because they do not have visas; so we are bringing them back. Similarly, those of our nationals who normally reside abroad also want to go abroad if they can, but we have a problem. Many of the countries are not recovering citizens other than their own. Therefore, it is a difficult situation, but we will open national civil aviation when the situation allows it. I don’t have an appointment and I keep saying that the decision has yet to be made, but I don’t think we should be unduly concerned with the fact that a person is stranded. Our hearts go out to them, but sometimes if you are subject to premature travel, your risk increases. So we are going to make this decision after evaluating all the factors.
Speaking of private airlines, they also face a great challenge. Some of them tell their staff to leave without pay, others differ the pilots’ wages, others say they are now going to pay their staff hourly. How troubling is this trend?
The fact is, many of the airlines have sent their staff on vacation without pay. Many of them have been on leave without pay for a long time. Therefore, it is a difficult situation for all concerned, including airline operators, airport operators, tour operators and hotels. They are going through an economic crisis. But we have to somehow manage that transition between March 23 and when the sector is ready to open up.
All I can say is that we are in constant contact with everyone and we are trying to find ways and means to address their concerns. Some things are easier to do than others. We will do our best. But the civil aviation industry alone is not affected. There is the MSME sector, I have seen members of their profession who want a package and also others affected. Then we will face the situation, we will try to find a solution, but it is not an easy task.
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