Thiruvananthapuram, April 24: Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan has requested the intervention of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in repatriating the mortal remains of the Pravasi Malayalees in the Gulf region to the State.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister has drawn his attention to the grievances received from the Non-Resident Keralites (Malayalee) Associations in the GCC countries on the difficulties and delay caused in bringing to Kerala, the mortal remains of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs), who had expired due to reasons other than the Coronavirus infection.
Addressing the media, the Chief Minister said, “The Pravasi Malayalees are already under tremendous stress and anxiety because of the lockdown imposed in those countries and the subsequent stoppage of international flights to India. A ‘clearance certificate’ from the Indian Embassies concerned is required to process the application for bringing home the mortal remains of the dead back to India. However, the Embassies are now insisting on production of a ‘No Objection Certificate’ from the Ministry of Home Affairs at New Delhi. The Central Government had already agreed that such certificates are not necessary for the mortal remains, in cases where the death was not due to Covid-19.” In the absence of passenger flights to India, these mortal remains are now brought in cargo planes.
“I have written to the Prime Minister for his intervention to facilitate the bringing back the bodies of the NRIs in cases where the death has occurred due to reasons other than COVID-19, without unnecessary procedural hassles. I have requested the PM to direct the Indian Embassies to issue necessary clearances without seeking individual approvals or NOC from the Ministry of Home Affairs and avoid delay, so that the mortal remains reach their homes early enabling the family members to perform the last rites”, the CM added.
*RCC, Thiruvananthapuram sets up Cancer treatment centre at Kanyakumari*
Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today announced that the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) at Thiruvananthapuram has started a cancer treatment centre at the Kanyakumari District Hospital for the benefit of cancer patients in Kanyakumari and surrounding districts who usually depend on RCC, Thiruvananthapuram for their treatment.
Giving details, the Chief Minister said there are currently 560 patients from that area undergoing treatment at RCC, Thiruvananthapuram but they are not able to reach here during the lockdown period. To address this issue, RCC, Thiruvananthapuram in association with the Tamil Nadu Health Department and with the support of Tamil Nadu Government has started this cancer treatment centre at Kanyakumari.
It may be recalled that the Kerala Government had set up 22 Cancer treatment centres across all the 14 districts in the State in association with the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) at Thiruvananthapuram. This would enable cancer patients to continue their follow-up treatment including chemotherapy at their nearest Cancer treatment centre during this Covid period.
Minister of Health & Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja; Revenue Minister, Shri E Chandrasekharan, and Chief Secretary, Shri Tom Jose IAS were also present during the media briefing.
