Bhubaneswar: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has sought direct flights to Odisha from Gulf countries, United Kingdom and Sri Lanka for bringing back Odia migrants, workers and students.
Pradhan wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri requesting them to arrange direct flights from these countries to Bhubaneswar.
In his letters, Pradhan urged the two ministers to arrange direct flights to Bhubaneswar from cities like Dubai, Doha, Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain, Colombo and London.
“I have received several representations from Odia persons living abroad requesting for their repatriation directly to Bhubaneswar. The Odia community representatives living in GCC countries, United Kingdom, and Sri Lanka have made specific requests to travel back from their respective capital cities to Bhubaneswar directly. Since they are in good numbers in these countries, point to point direct flights may be arranged from the cities like Dubai, Doha, Dammam, Muscat, Bahrain, Colombo and London to Bhubaneswar, which would also make commercial sense for the airlines,” Pradhan said.
This would go a long way in helping them during this time of crisis, the Union Minister added.