The sudden Covid-19 lockdowns have left several Indians stranded all across the world, unable to return home. Indian migrants are not just stuck in several parts of India but in other countries across the world too. A Dubai-based NRI took the necessary steps to bring back everyone who have been stuck and are unable to return home.
Popularly known as “Masala King”, 56-year old Dhananjay M. Datar had rushed to help all the stranded Indians who had been queuing outside of the Indian consulate hoping to get a flight or ticket to fly back home to India.
Several of the Indians have been thrown out of their rented homes and have lost their jobs too, forced to spend restless nights on the roads with the rising risks of the spreading Covid-19 pandemic.
“There are many pregnant women, children, tourists and others on short-term visas who have been stranded herea So far, I have organized travel for over 3,000 people to Kerala, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Goa, Chandigarh,” said Datar.
Over 60,000 Indians stranded in UAE were from Mumbai and Maharashtra. Learning that, Datar immediately contacted the Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, who responded promptly to the appeal and urged the Centre to allow the emergency evacuation of these people.
Datar is hoping that with the cooperation from Thackeray, they would be able to conduct the repatriation under the Vande Mataram scheme and be able to return to India.
Datar, who is the head of the Al-Adil Trading LLC Group in UAE has already sponsored the tickets of over 1000 Indians while some of the others have already booked their tickets in advance or had return tickets with them that came in handy.
All the individuals who are in dire need of the repatriation will have to undergo all the mandatory screenings and processes to ensure safety. The testing and screening of the Covid-19 of these Indians have been borne by Al-Adil Trading LLC Group.
Following that, Datar also received a helping hand from Indian Consul-General Vipul who took the responsibility to do the needful to send back all the blue and grey collared countrymen back home.
“We have already sent a dozen flights to India, repatriating over 3,000 people. The efforts of Datar come as a breath of fresh air in these times of masked existence. Support, by way of Al-Adil Group sponsoring air tickets and conducting free Covid-19 tests is welcome,” said Vipul.
Several of the Indians who are returning home cried out in joy saying how they lost their jobs and weren’t paid for the last two months, losing their hopes of being able to return home but with Datar’s help, they are finally getting to do so.
Another individual was boarding the flight with his 32-week pregnant wife and he wanted his kid to be born in India and he was thankful to be one of those individuals selected to fly back home under the initiative.
“As a fellow Indian, concerned with the plight of those stranded here, I am simply doing my duty, along with the Indian Consulate and Air Indiaa Many have run out of resources, so we are trying to ensure they return home as early as possible,” said Datar.
Just over the course of the next few days, a dozen more flights have been planned out to help fly out a lot more expats, including a few to Mumbai, depending on the clearance issued by the Indian government.
Aside from the flight expenses and the medical tests, the Al-Adil Group has also helped these expast provide with full ration to around 50 poor labourers from Telangana who didn’t have any job or resources left to get them by during the lockdown.
Datar has described the Kerala government to be extremely rigorous with their repatriation process, bringing back the Keralites stranded in the UAE with regularly sending 16 flights where 65% of the workforce is Indian and 90% of the businesses are owned or run by the Indians.
The Al-Adil Group is one of the leading manufacturers and distributors of the Indian foods and some of the non-food items. They have around 34 outlets selling the Peacock brand in UAE along with India and employs of 500 employees across.
Datar, who hails from Akola, is an entrepreneur who started from humble beginnings, especially during the times when he couldn’t even afford a bicycle. With the kind of success that he has achieved, he now owns a Rolls Royce and ranks among some of the world’s richest NRIs. But, he has kept his humble beginnings in reminders and helps poor Indian farmers and the Indians in need.
He further helps the Indian farmers by cutting out the middlemen and procures their crops for the best deals.
