Chandigarh: No flight of fancy this! A billionaire Punjabi in Dubai has taken charity to new heights by virtually launching chartered flights to bring distressed compatriots back.
Philanthropist Surinder Pal Singh Oberoi is now a messiah for workers and tourists who have been stuck in the UAE due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
This week a first batch of 177 people returned to Chandigarh and reunited with their families. Three more flights have been lined up this month; four in August.
"We are arranging free charter flights mainly to repatriate low-income workers who have lost their jobs and they ran out of money," Oberoi, 64, a Dubai-based industrialist from a small town in Punjab, told IANS here on Friday.
He said the stranded Indians include tourists who came out on a shoestring budget and the money is running out.
"We are giving priority to pregnant women, old, sick and families," he said.
The next scheduled chartered flight of SpiceJet, each carrying 177 passengers, is on July 13, 19 and 25.
A flight costs Rs 40-42 lakh and is being paid by Oberoi-managed Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust.
Oberoi, who came to Dubai in 1977 as a mechanic, is well known for charity work.
His trust saved more than 80 people convicted of various cases for crimes in the United Arab Emirates. It rescued a woman from Punjab who was sold as domestic help in Oman.
10/07/20 IANS/Outlook
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Philanthropist Surinder Pal Singh Oberoi is now a messiah for workers and tourists who have been stuck in the UAE due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
This week a first batch of 177 people returned to Chandigarh and reunited with their families. Three more flights have been lined up this month; four in August.
"We are arranging free charter flights mainly to repatriate low-income workers who have lost their jobs and they ran out of money," Oberoi, 64, a Dubai-based industrialist from a small town in Punjab, told IANS here on Friday.
He said the stranded Indians include tourists who came out on a shoestring budget and the money is running out.
"We are giving priority to pregnant women, old, sick and families," he said.
The next scheduled chartered flight of SpiceJet, each carrying 177 passengers, is on July 13, 19 and 25.
A flight costs Rs 40-42 lakh and is being paid by Oberoi-managed Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust.
Oberoi, who came to Dubai in 1977 as a mechanic, is well known for charity work.
His trust saved more than 80 people convicted of various cases for crimes in the United Arab Emirates. It rescued a woman from Punjab who was sold as domestic help in Oman.
10/07/20 IANS/Outlook
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