Repatriates complain of mismanagement at Mangaluru airport

MANGALURU: Several repatriates, especially pregnant women and the ailing, who disembarked from the Vande Bharat Mission flight from Dubai at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA), accused the Dakshina Kannada district administration of not making appropriate arrangements for them. According to sources, chaos prevailed at the airport after health screening was done of the repatriates, but the issue was solved after the intervention of senior officials.
MLA U T Khader trained his guns at the Dakshina Kannada district administration, and alleged that the repatriates were not treated well. He said that out of 176 passengers, 33 who couldn’t afford hotels to be quarantined in, were still booked in them. However, they were left at the airport without any food. “The government should have made necessary arrangements for those could not afford to be quarantined. The government had assured of providing necessary help to stranded expatriates once they return home, but in the first flight itself, they were ignored.”
Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) criticised that the district administration had not taken into consideration the requests of Islamic organisations, who had come forward to offer institutional quarantine facilities free of cost. “We condemn the district administration’s move to deny permission to arrange for health officials at the quarantine facilities we offered to them. A majority of passengers who went to Dubai on visit visas were forced to pay for quarantine facilities,” said the SDPI.
A woman who was three months pregnant, who came with her ailing husband, said that social distancing was not maintained at the airport. “Me and my husband were made to carry our luggage and no one helped us. Apart from it, we were not given the option to choose hotels according our wish, but were forced to stay in a hotel by district administration officials. The passengers who left Dubai at 4pm were also not given food till 4am on Wednesday,” a pregnant woman told a local TV channel.
Some of the pregnant women staying at a hotel alleged that proper arrangements were not made there. They complained that food sufficient for 15 people, had to be shared by 23 people. One pregnant woman complained of developing health complications, due to rash driving by a driver, who transferred her to a hotel from the airport.
When TOI contacted Rahul Shinde, probationary IAS officer, who is in charge of the quarantine facilities for the repatriates, he denied all the allegations, and said that the district administration had made all the necessary arrangements to receive the repatriates. Those who couldn’t afford to pay to be put in a quarantine facility were shifted to hostels, and officials left their homes only after they arranged Roza sehri for the minorities among them, he said.
Another government official, who was present at the airport, pointed out that each passenger had different requests. “It is not possible to fulfill all the passengers’ requests. We are going by the government guidelines,” said the official.