The Ministry of Tourism on March 31 launched the ‘Stranded in India’ portal with an aim to help foreign tourists who have been stranded across the country due to the national lockdown that has been enforced to fight the deadly Coronavirus.
In the five days of its launch, 769 foreign tourists from all over the country have registered on the portal.
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The portal has reached out to stranded foreign tourists and they are being contacted over e-mails, telephones and also in person depending on the kind of support they need.
They have been connected with the relevant foreign office of their home country in India and are being updated about the information on flights out of India to their home countries. Medical assistance, food and accommodation are also being taken care of as in when required.
One of the many occasions in which the portal helped foreigners was when an American lady was stranded in Supaul district of Bihar due to the lockdown, as her son was undergoing surgery at Delhi. The portal provided her with special transit-permit to travel to Delhi.
The ‘Stranded in India’ portal provides the following:
- It helps the tourists find comprehensive information at a single place. It will contain the numbers of various call centres being operated and helplines the tourists can reach out to.
- The helpline numbers of the Ministry of External Affairs.
- Information on state-based/ regional tourism support infrastructure
- Helpline section which will connect the tourists to the relevant authorities.
A large number of international tourists have been stranded across the nation as various other countries have stopped the international flights.
India has also stopped domestic flights till the period of national lockdown. That is till April 14. However, various nations are rescuing their nationals from India.