Indian migrants are stranded not only within the country but also abroad and one Dubai-based NRI has taken steps to send them back to their motherland. UAE’s ‘Masala King’, Dhananjay M. Datar, 56, has rushed to the aid of thousands of desperate Indians queuing up outside the Indian Consulate, hoping for a flight and ticket back home in the Covid-19 pandemic.

For many, India is now virtually the last resort, as they have been thrown out of their rented homes and even forced to spend nights on the roads, others lost jobs rendering them practically penniless, he said of their plight. “There are many pregnant women, children, tourists and others on short-term visas who have been stranded herea So far, I have organized travel for over 3,000 people to Kerala, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Goa, Chandigarh,” Datar told IANS over phone.

As there were around 60,000 from Mumbai and Maharashtra stuck there, he spoke with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray last week who responded promptly by writing to the Centre to permit the emergency evacuation.