Punjab CM opens NRI facilitation centre at Delhi's IGI airport

New Delhi: To facilitate the Punjabi diaspora, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday inaugurated a state-of-the-art NRI facilitation booth named 'Punjab Help Centre' at the Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport here.

Launching the centre, the Chief Minister said: "Today is a red letter day in the history of the state as Punjab has become the first state to launch such an initiative which reflects the strong commitment of the state government to support and facilitate the NRI brethren."

He said the centre would be manned round the clock and would provide assistance to all the NRIs and other passengers arriving at the terminal.

Mann said the centre has two Innova cars at its disposal for helping passengers with local movement to Punjab Bhawan and to other nearby places.

The Chief Minister said that the passengers or relatives will be free to take assistance regarding arrival flights, connecting flights, taxi services, lost luggage facilities and any other assistance required at the airport.

He said in case of any emergency, a few rooms, depending upon the availability, will be provided in Punjab Bhawan, Copernicus Marg, for the passengers or their relatives.

Mann said passengers could dial a helpline number 011-61232182 for any sort of assistance.

Seeking a transparent probe about the role of the supporting staff in wrestler Vinesh Phogat's matter, Bhagwant Mann said this "is a big blow for the entire sporting community".

He said the incident has bruised the psyche of millions of sports lovers and "a free, fair and impartial inquiry into this incident is need of the hour not only to revive the faith of people in the entire system, besides exposing the ugly reality of this crime".

Mann categorically said the role of the staff "is dubious as they didn't take any measure to control the weight of the wrestler under prescribed limits".

The Chief Minister said the 'shocking incident' has posed several questions which can be answered only after a thorough and fair investigation.

He said managing 100 gm weight is not a big issue, especially in such a prestigious event where stakes of the country are high, adding that it is the sheer failure of supporting staff as they are duty bound to take care of such issues.