New Delhi: A social media post recounting his harrowing experience with the Vande Bharat flight by an NRI who travelled from Canada to Kerala with his family of three, has gone viral.
According to a report in the NewsMinute, the man Siva* said that he had left Kerala to go to Canada with his family over a year ago to earn more money and clear pending debts. Along with his wife, Siva was able to find a job and work in Montreal. However, after the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, like thousands of other expatriates, he was stranded.
In a post on Facebook titled ‘Vande Bharat Mission and Corona Tourism’, he recounted his ordeal and said that his family had to utilise all their savings to make the payment for the trip back home. After the pandemic broke, Siva had to book fresh tickets through the central government’s Vande Bharat Mission, which were priced at Rs 1,38,000 per ticket and ended up costing him over Rs 4 lakh for tickets for the entire family.
“It was no good that we worked in a country like Canada. For someone doing general jobs, to save this much after all your expenses, it takes at least eight months. Vande Bharat Mission! I heaved a long sigh. I felt deeply jealous of the Pakistanis and Filipinos who went home for free,” Siva wrote in his post.
He also alleged that there was no room for any physical distancing between the passengers on the flight. “We didn’t understand why the tickets were then so costly,” Siva told TNM and added that the little food served on the flight was “pathetic” and inadequate. It was also announced that there would be no other food for the 16 hours of the flight.
“My child of seven years stayed hungry with us and none of us even used the toilet. Even the masks they provided were wet with the water they gave leaking onto it,” Siva said.
Also read: Steep Prices, Confusion and Solidarity on a Vande Bharat Flight Back Home
Upon reaching the airport in Delhi, Siva claimed that the passengers had to stand in a queue without and physical distancing for several hours and were not provided with any water or food. “We found people sitting on the floor and having food. An army official who was supposed to supervise the people was without a mask, eating a chapati he held in his hands without even a plate to put it in.”
When their turn came, Siva said that his family was asked to select a hotel from a list to quarantine in Delhi. “All of these were ridiculously expensive. We couldn’t afford it and requested that we be allowed to go home, since we had already booked tickets to Kerala,” he said and added that after hours of persuasion, his family was allowed to leave for Kerala. Another passenger, who was a heart patient, Siva said was also pleading with officials to no avail.
In his post on social media, Siva alleged that this was a way to make money by insisting that incoming passengers quarantine at expensive hotels and added that in the event that a person contracted the virus, they would be forced to go to a private hospital and spend more money.
After waiting for twelve more hours, Siva and his family caught a flight to Kerala.
“On reaching Kerala, we could spot the difference immediately. We walked through the glass corridor of Nedumbassery airport and after we passed, it was disinfected. We were then made to stand in front of a glass box with a camera sticking out of it, for our thermal scanning,” he said and added that their bags were also disinfected and social distancing was being maintained.
“In 45 minutes we were out of the airport and in a taxi, separating the front side from the back, we reached home. I am not taking political sides, just telling the facts of the experience we have been through,” he said.
Previously news reports have singled out the high price of tickets for flights operated under the Vande Bharat Mission and the cost of the subsequent 14-day mandatory quarantine at either a hospital or a government-approved paid facility.
*Note: Name has been changed to protect identity.
