Pune: In these unprecedented times, every effort is being made to bring the Indians back home, who are stranded in various countries. Pune based ladies organization running under FLO, that is FICCI Ladies organization, Pune chapter has contributed to one such successful attempt, which led to the homecoming of about 39 Indians stuck in Colombia.
Dr Aneeta Sanas, Chairperson of FLO Pune chapter said, "Residents of Pune and member of FLO Pune Chapter Ekta Sanghvi got in touch with me and told me that her 16-year-old son is stranded in Colombia and is not getting the required assistance for coming back to India. I immediately took up this issue with the national network of FLO and made an appeal for help. Dharitri Patnaik, Chairperson of FLO Bhuvaneshwar chapter responded to my appeal and assured us of help in this regard. I am happy and proud to see the FLO team working relentlessly with a selfless attitude for the cause in these difficult times."
Expressing her feelings on safe homecoming of her son, Ekta Sanghvi said, "As a concerned mother, I wanted my son Virenn to return home safely amidst the COVID-19 crisis. He was at a place called Pasto in Colombia as a Cultural Youth Ambassador under Rotary International's Rotary Youth Exchange Program (RYE). I am indeed very happy that he has now returned to Pune and is currently under hotel quarantine as per the state government's guidelines. Mohit Wawge from Pune, who was also there in Colombia in a similar program as Virenn has also returned safely. After a consistent follow-up of a few weeks and required coordination with concerned ministries, embassies and the airline the required procedure was completed and the Indians stuck in Colombia were first brought to Doha and then to Mumbai, safely."
"On the backdrop of a very successful Vande Bharat drive of Indian Government to bring Indians back home from various countries, I expected the same support and enthusiasm from the Indian Embassy and other reputed organization. But unfortunately, we did not receive any response, neither any kind of cooperation from them. Thus, we had no option but to seek assistance from other organizations and governmental departments. Dharitri Patnaik, FLO Vice-Chair of Bhuvaneshwar helped us to connect with Hardeep Singh Puri who is the Civil Aviation Minister of Government of India, whose team includes his additional secretary C M Sharma helped us for the homecoming of 39 Indians who were stranded in Colombia, including my son Virenn" she added.
"It may be noted that while we did not receive expected support from The Indian Embassy at Colombia and some other organizations. We got excellent support from the Indian Government, Indian Embassy in Doha, especially Captain Kapil Kaushik, and the Management of Indigo Airlines for bringing these Indians from Doha to Mumbai", Sanghvi concluded.
Edited by: Pranav Jalan
