When Sundareshan Krishnaswamy, a vice president with American tech company Oracle, left Bengaluru on March 3 for a business trip in the United States, he couldn’t have imagined the nightmare that awaited him, that divided his family across four countries, and has left him stranded without a home and access to much needed medicines.
Hundreds of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholders like him, who are permanently based in India but were travelling, studying or working abroad, have appealed to the government to make an exception for them to return, with little headway so far.
Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India
Officials say their hands are tied as the government decided on March 11 to cancel all visas issued to non-Indians, and suspend OCI rights for the duration of the coronavirus-related directions as well.
‘Needs to return’
“We have lived in India for 15 years, and don’t have a home outside,” Mr. Krishnaswamy’s son Siddharth Aatreya, a student at the U.K.’s Cambridge University told The Hindu over the telephone, barely able to conceal his worries from his voice. “[My father] has a limited supply of insulin and hypertension medication, which will run out in two weeks, he needs to return home to India,” Mr. Aatreya said.
Also read: A complete list of travel advisories issued by the Union Health Ministry
Mr. Krishnaswamy was in North Carolina, U.S., when the government issued its notification aimed at keeping out all non-essential passengers to India. According to his son, he immediately re-scheduled his flights to travel home via Chicago and Frankfurt.
However, when he went to board his flight to Bengaluru in Frankfurt, he and about 15-20 other OCI cardholders were told that the airline would not board them.
This left Mr. Krishnaswamy, who is a Canadian citizen, stranded in Germany, while his wife is in Bengaluru, one son is in the U.K. and the other is studying in Canada. “Living outside India for all of us will mean moving into a hotel, which is a huge financial strain,” said Mr. Aatreya, who has tried to contact the local Indian High Commission and even addressed tweets to the Ministry of External Affairs, with no response yet.
Huge response
While Indian missions worldwide have been authorised to issue visas for urgent requests, they too are inundated, said officials. Several missions that had originally put the ‘emergency visas for OCIs’ form on their website have had to take them down, given the huge response.
Hopes for the Krishnaswamy family returning early have been further complicated as more and more countries are put on the Ministry of Health’s no-fly list, and airlines are cancelling flights to India.
Apart from business travellers, the OCI rule has affected hundred of students with OCI status in various universities abroad, whose parents and family live in India. Anju Sharma (name changed at her request) says that she had no choice but to fly to the U.K. so as to care for her children, whose hostels have been shut down, but they can’t fly home.
Many are going online to try and have their protests heard. A petition on the website change.org started by a parent last week has received nearly 4,000 signatures. “Please let our children enter India,” says the petition addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by the parent, Kavitha Prasad. “Our kids have to vacate their college rooms and have nowhere to go,” it adds.
‘Constant review’
When asked about the demand from OCIs to allow them to return to India, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the matter is “under constant review by the Group of Ministers and the Committee of the Secretaries”.
However, at present, any OCI cardholder who intends to travel for compelling reasons must contact local Indian missions. “The discretion to decide on compelling cases rest with Heads of Mission. However, the country-specific travel advisories and applicable health protocols will still be enforced,” said Mr. Kumar.
As of Monday, India has banned the travel of all passengers from about 37 countries, including the U.K., 32 European countries, Turkey, Malaysia, Philippines and Afghanistan, a list that is likely to grow.
