Over 300,000 of Kerala diaspora register to return
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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, here on Wednesday, said as of now 3,20,463 Keralites settled abroad had registered with Norka-Roots to return home, as and when the lockdown was lifted and the airports opened.
Of this, 2,23,624 were on labour/residence visa, 57,436 on visit visa, 29,219 on dependent visa, 7,276 students, 691 on transit visa and 11,327 others, he said.
"Of these, 56,114 have lost job, 58,823 on vacation travel, 41,236 whose visit visa have expired, and 23,975 whose visa have expired or cancelled," said Vijayan.
There are 9,561 children, 10,007 senior citizens, 9,515 pregnant, 2,448 students whose education have completed and 748 freed from jails among them. Also, there are 49,472 specialised workers, 67,136 professionals and 24,107 self-employed.
The Malappuram district has the highest number with 54,280 applicants, followed by Thrissur and Kozhikode with over 40,000. There are 23,014 from Thiruvananthapuram and 3,459 from the Idukki district.
The registration has to be done on www.norkaroots.org of the state-run Norka-Roots, the official body of diaspora.
The facility was opened by the Kerala government, after the Centre decided to accede to their requests.
Of an estimated 2.5 million non-resident Keralites, 90 per cent are in the Middle East countries. Around 3-500,000 are likely to return after the revival of air services.
