Govt reaches out to families, ready to extend prompt help

Lucknow: With thousands of residents from Uttar Pradesh working in strife-torn West Asia, state govt has begun compiling a list of those who may require assistance, including evacuation, and has reached out to their families for information.Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed departments like home and relief to coordinate efforts to ensure that anyone seeking help is responded to immediately. A senior official said the relief department has been asked to coordinate with the ministry of external affairs and provide them information on persons stranded in the violence-hit nations so that they can be brought back whenever the Centre decides to start evacuation flights. Relief commissioner Hrishikesh Bhaskar Yashod has reached out to all district magistrates for information on such persons in their areas."We are reaching out to families who may want assistance for their kin stranded in conflict zones areas. We are coordinating with MEA and passing on the necessary information to them," he said. Till Thursday night, the department received information about 5,177 persons, a figure that was expected to rise if evacuation flights were started. The department was also receiving information directly from families through the 1070 helpline. Yashod said the main concern at present is getting border passes and visas to allow people to move to airports from where flights were able to operate out of conflict zones. The matter was handled entirely by MEA, which also issued helpline numbers for the countries concerned. "So far there has been no demand for emergency intervention. Issues are being taken care of by MEA currently," he said, adding that any SOS from UP-bound persons will be communicated promptly to higher authorities.