Many Maharashtrian Families Stranded in Dubai to Return Home

Second group of 136 Maharashtrians including women and children landed at Mumbai Airport

Mumbai –Masala King Dr. Dhananjay Datar, CMD, Al Adil Trading LLC, and also a billionaire from Dubai known for his philanthropic work, has vowed to help as many needy and financially stressed Indian workers stranded in Dubai as possible till they safely return to their hometowns. Last week the first group of 186 penniless Maharashtrian workers boarded a chartered flight from Dubai to Mumbai. Similarly, a couple of days ago, the second group of 136 people [mostly women and children] also availed the opportunity. Dr. Datar sponsored all travel expenses of these travellers who are from all regions of Maharashtra and made their return journey hassle-free. These people recently landed at Mumbai Airport with smiling faces and tearful eyes, thanking Dr. Datar.

As of now Dr. Datar and his Al Adil Trading Company have helped 3500 needy Indians stranded in Dubai to return to India and have spent more than Rs. 3 crores to sponsor their air tickets and medical tests. These people are from different states of India including Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Goa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram etc. The drive to help the needy will be continued for the next few months. The other 3 directors of Al Adil Trading Company, namely Vandana Datar, Hrishikesh Datar and Rohit Datar who are proactive participants in the entire process are co-ordinating with social worker Dhanashree Patil (Pune). Mr. Suleiman Ikram from Akbar Travels (Dubai) is assisting wholeheartedly in completing the travel permissions and ticket booking related formalities.”

Speaking about the initiative Dr. Dhananjay said, “Post lockdown, the air traffic between UAE and India resumed almost immediately but flights from Dubai to Mumbai started only recently. That is why 65000 Indians from Maharashtra including workers, students, tourists etc. are still stranded in Dubai and awaiting to avail the flight booking as early as possible. Of these, the penniless workers who lost their jobs are suffering more. Until now we had provided free food and medical kits to thousands of needy families in Dubai, but when I realised that there were hundreds of jobless and empty-pocketed workers who were in dire need, our company decided to sponsor their travel and medical test expenditure. Some of them had to take shelter in public parks as they were unable to pay their house rents. Some had lost family members back in India due to the pandemic, but were unable to even attend the funeral rites. Someone’s wife was admitted to hospital, someone’s children were home quarantined. These heart-wrenching stories really moved us to take up this drive as a CSR initiative.”
He further said, “It was a challenge for us to select the really needy people from a list of 2000 applicants. We preferred workers who were previously earning a monthly salary below 2000 Dirham and lost their jobs during the pandemic. Besides, there were some other important formalities to be completed before the travel. We approached the Maharashtra Government and Ministry of External Affairs for their permissions, co-ordinated with Indian Consulate in UAE, followed all legal frameworks of both countries and communicated with the airline for arranging a chartered flight. Then we approached the HR Managers of the companies and collected the passports of the selected workers and then handed them their tickets. We also took the responsibility to home quarantine these travellers after they reach Mumbai. By God’s grace we overcame every challenge.”