Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate has said that a request has been put across to Air India regarding its crew living here and who are part of 'Vande Bharat Mission' to follow Central government's protocol and only then should they be allowed to come back to Gautam Buddh Nagar.
"Air India pilots and other crew are corona warriors and I want to clarify that no one has been asked to stay in Delhi. It has been requested to Air India that those corona warriors who bring the Indian nationals back from abroad, when the crew members come back to their homes, it is our and their collective responsibility to protect the health of their family and other residents. So we have requested Air India that the crew comes back to their homes only after following the protocol of screening and testing," Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate (DM) Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj said.
"The Air India has also accepted it and has informed that when the crew comes they will be screened, tested and quarantined in Delhi and only after that will be sent to Gautam Buddh Nagar district," he added.
India has begun phased repatriation of its citizens stranded abroad from Thursday. The government said that Air India will operate 64 flights from May 7 to May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown.
( With inputs from ANI )