Thiruvananthapuram
After drawing criticism for making it mandatory for the Kerala diaspora returning from abroad to possess Covid-negative certificates, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the returnees will have to wear PPE kits.
Vijayan said this after chairing a weekly Cabinet meeting. The health certificates for returnees was earlier made mandatory from June 20, but later the date was postponed to June 25.
According to sources, Vijayan has now insisted that it would be the responsibility of the airlines to ensure that all arriving passengers wore PPE kits.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who has been pleading with Vijayan not to impose "impractical" suggestions, welcomed the new decision.
"Our only demand has been that any decision taken should be practical. Insisting on health certificates was impractical. How is it possible for our people to get it when many countries in the Middle East do not have such facilities? With regards to the PPE kits, we urge the Kerala government to provide passengers with the protective gear," said Chandy.
Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said it was "most unfortunate that a person like Vijayan had no clue of what he is doing" and was thus coming up with "strange ideas" and then had to change his own decisions.
Meanwhile, passengers wishing to travel to Dubai on residency or work permits would further require special authorisation from the UAE authorities, national carrier Air India said on Wednesday.
According to the airline, passengers would need to have specific approvals from the UAE Embassy and UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MOFAIC) to travel from India to the Gulf country on repatriation flights.
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