Punjab sets up facilitation centre at Delhi airport for Punjabis, NRIs

Those found negative would be sent home for another two weeks of self-quarantine while those who test positive will be shifted to isolation centres for care/treatment.

With 20,000 stranded Punjabis and NRIs expected to return home under the Vande Bharat Mission, many of them by flights arriving in New Delhi, the facilitation centre would ensure seamless coordination, without chaos or confusion, said the Chief Minister. Coordinators have also been appointed in various countries to ensure the safe return of those who had registered for return to their native place in Punjab, on the lines of the nodal officers appointed by his government to facilitate the to and fro movement of migrants via the special Shramik Trains, he added.

Elaborate arrangements have been made to quarantine these people in hotels in the districts concerned, and free quarantine facility would be given to those students or immigrants who cannot afford the cost of hotels, Punjab NRIs Affairs Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi said.

Rahul Bhandari, Secretary, NRI Affairs, said that the facilitation centre at IGIA is working 24 hours a day. While one flight arrived in Amritsar from the USA on Tuesday, several more are expected to bring Punjabis/NRIs in New Delhi and Amritsar next week. The facilitation centre is coordinating with the State Transport Department to enable smooth and timely services for taking the returnees back to their home districts in Punjab, he said.