More than 4 lakh NRKs seek immediate return to Kerala

TNN | May 4, 2020, 16:08 IST

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The number of Keralites, who have registered with the non-resident Keralites affairs (Norka) department seeking immediate return to the state from abroad in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, has crossed four lakh. Among them are around 61,000 people who lost jobs owing to the pandemic and subsequent economic fallout, and nearly 10,000 pregnant women.
As per the latest figures released by Norka on Sunday, a total of around 4.13 lakh Malayalis stranded in various foreign countries have registered their names on www.registernorkaroots.org, which was launched a week ago, while 1,50,054 Keralites have registered from other Indian states, making it a total of 5.63 lakh people who are now eagerly awaiting the earliest opportunity to return to Kerala.
Besides 61,009 NRKs who lost their jobs and 9,827 pregnant women among the registered, there are 10,628 children and 11,256 aged people who are now stranded abroad. They also include 2,902 students who have completed their courses, 70,638 people who wish to come back on annual vacation, 41,236 persons with expired visit visa and 27,100 NRKs with expired/ cancelled visas.
As many as 806 persons freed from various jails abroad have also registered their names and 1,28,061NRKs have cited various other reasons for returning to the state at the earliest opportunity.
Meanwhile, procedures have been completed for handing over the details of the registered persons (a priority list as announced earlier) to the Union ministry of external affairs and the Indian embassies in the respective countries, said the official release from Norka.
Among the states from where Malayalis have registered for an immediate crossborder transit, the neighbouring Karnataka tops the list with 49,233 applications. Tamil Nadu, the other neighbouring state is close on the heels with 45,491 applications while there are 20,869 applications from Maharashtra.