Dubai: A Sharjah-based Malayali businessman brought 120 of his staff to Kerala in a chartered flight on Sunday.
The Air Arabia G9427 flight, chartered by the Sharjah-based Elite Group of Companies’ owner R Harikumar, left Sharjah at 4pm UAE time (5:30pm India time) with 170 passengers.
Apart from his 120 employees, the flight carried 50 people who were waiting outside the Sharjah airport without sufficient money to buy a ticket to Kerala.
Harikumar hails from Amabalpuzha in Alapuzha.
The employees belong to the 12 business entities that make up the Elite Group of Companies.
Each of them has been provided with a PPE kit that includes mask, gloves, face shield, safety cover-all and sanitizers.
Harikumar said that the company has arranged vehicles to take each staff to their homes in Kerala.
Each employee, who will be on three-month leave, will be paid a month’s salary. Further assistance will be provided for anyone facing financial distress, Harikumar said.
He said the employees will be brought back to Sharjah when the COVID-19 threat abates and situation returns to normal. He said those who are interested could work in his company in Coimbatore.
Harikumar said he hoped this will help his employees overcome the psychological stress they had been facing over the last three months since the COVID outbreak.
The Elite Group has 12 companies, which employs about 2,000 people, of which about 900 are Malayalis and most of them have been with the group for over 15 years.
The employees said they were staying in fear of COVID, but the group took good care of them by providing them food and proper shelter. They said they were happy and thankful for the free chartered flight.
Harikumar, who was a very popular theatre artiste in Kerala, left Kerala for Saudi Arabia in search of a job. He then went on to become a successful businessman. The chartered flight is perhaps his way of saying thank you to those who have helped him in his incredible journey.
Harikumar is married to Kala Harikumar. Their daughters, Sowmya Harikumar and Lakshmi Harikumar, are doctors.
