File photo
Ranchi/Mumbai, May 28
Over 165 migrant workers were ferried back home to Jharkhand from Mumbai in a chartered flight, arranged by the alumni network of a Bengaluru-based law school, making it the first such instance in the country amid the Covid-19 lockdown, an official statement said.
This is the first time in the country that a plane brought mazdoor back during the lockdown. I appreciate the effort.
Hemant Soren, Jharkhand CM
The Air Asia flight carrying 169 migrant workers and five children left Mumbai at 6.25 am and reached Ranchi around 8.25 am. An airline spokesperson said the National Law School (NLS) Alumni Association had taken on lease a 180-seater A320 plane, a first such operation by the budget carrier since passenger services resumed in the country.
“We have been working closely with the organisers, who we understand have independently crowd-funded their efforts to assist migrants,” the official said in a statement.
At Ranchi’s Birsa Munda Airport, the migrant workers underwent a medical screening and the administration provided them with food packets, before sending them off to quarantine centres. Shyel Trehan, one of those behind the initiative, said: “We are happy to have made this very small contribution to addressing a massive travesty.” — PTI
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