Indian diaspora demands action over passport delays in repatriating mortal remains

Advocacy groups in the US wrote to India’s Home Secretary after Air India blocked body transport over documents.

Stock image. / Pexels

Indian diaspora organizations are demanding urgent intervention from India’s Ministry of Home Affairs to resolve bureaucratic hurdles that are preventing families from repatriating the bodies of deceased loved ones. In a formal letter addressed to the Union Home Secretary, groups like TEAM Aid and Jaipur Foot USA highlighted a growing issue where the absence of a physical passport is delaying the transport of mortal remains from abroad to India.

The immediate trigger for the letter was the case of Rahul Patel, a Canadian national who died after jumping into the Niagara River from the Canadian side. His body was recovered on the US side. All paperwork was completed by volunteers from TEAM Aid and the Indian Consulate in New York, which issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to allow transport. A friend of Patel’s in Canada sent his passport, but the document was held up at US Customs and Border Protection in Chicago, according to TEAM Aid’s chief advisor Prem Bhandari.

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