Dubai: With the death of their two sons in the Mangalore air crash, Abdullah Haji, 65, and Mariamma, 55, have lost their sole means of livelihood.
But the initiative of companies like Lifeline Hospital group and UAE Exchange to offer employment opportunities for the immediate relatives of the Mangalore air crash victims, brings good news to dozens of bereaved families like theirs.
Based in Mangalore, Haji family were financially dependent on their two sons, Mohammad Bashir, 40 and Abu Bakr Seddiqi, 37, who were running a small trading enterprise in Dubai. Bashir and Seddiqi lost their lives in the Mangalore air crash on their way to attend their sister's wedding.
"It will be a huge relief for the family if one of their younger brothers can get a job. Their family, including a younger sister and two more brothers were completely dependent on Bashir and Seddiqi. Both their wives are not educated enough to take up a job and support the family," Mohammad Kunji, Bashir's father-in-law, told Gulf News over the telephone from the south Indian state of Kerala. Kunji said the family will readily take up an offer no matter where the placement is.
In one of the worst tragedies in recent Indian aviation history, the Dubai-Mangalore Air India Express flight crashed soon after touchdown at Mangalore airport on Saturday May 22, killing 158 passengers and the crew. Many of the victims were the sole breadwinners for their family, and their dependants face an uncertain future.
But to bring financial relief to these families who have lost their loved ones, Lifeline Hospital Group, based in Abu Dhabi, announced yesterday that they will provide 50 jobs for the employable relatives of the deceased.
Dr Shajir Gaffar, Corporate Relations Manager of the Group said the initiative is part of the company's Corporate Social Responsibility to offer a "tangible, substantive and sustainable contribution to the wellbeing of those dependant members of the victims' families."
"With this in mind, we are offering 1 million Indian rupees (Dh77,628) immediately for urgent assistance and support for up to 50 individuals in the form of employment," said Dr Shajir.
He said the Group is coordinating the Indian embassy to identify individuals within the families who were solely dependent on the deceased for financial support, and who are willing and able to take up the offered employment opportunities, either in the UAE, Oman or India.
Similarly, Sudhir Kumar Shetty, COO - Global Operations of UAE Exchange, based in the UAE and with branches all over India, told Gulf News immediate family members of the crash victims will be given priority while filling up vacancies in the company.
Long-term solution
"Financial compensation will come only as a temporary relief for the affected families. But to have a job will mean the families whose livelihood is at stake will have a long-term financial solution," said Shetty.
Air India has announced the release of an interim payment of Rs1 million (Dh77,628) per deceased passenger of the age of 12 years or more and Rs500,000 (Dh38,814) for each child below 12 years of age. Those injured are offered a compensation of Rs200,000 each.
