People repatriated
Across India and nine other nationalities.
Grish Paant
Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardee 2019 — UAE. “Nation First, Service Humanity.”
Grish Paant
Director, Umeed Helping Hand
Director’s message
A life given to people who had nowhere else to turn.
Grish Paant is a distinguished humanitarian leader and a recognised pioneer in strengthening and standardising the social work profession. Based in the UAE, he has dedicated his life to serving distressed individuals across borders. Through his tireless efforts, he has facilitated the safe repatriation of over 12,200 people belonging to India and several other nations, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Russia, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan and Nepal.
His selfless service earned him the affectionate title “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” from major Indian media networks. In honour of his exceptional contributions, he received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in 2019 — the highest civilian recognition bestowed by the Government of India upon members of the Indian diaspora.
He belongs to the Pithoragarh district of the state of Uttarakhand in India. A PGDBA (Finance) graduate in academia, his philosophy is “Nation First, Service Humanity.”
A man who has made a steep climb in the cause of humanity, against all odds — the challenges of life, systems, situations, bureaucracy — with non-stop effort. Grish has been recognised and awarded on several occasions, always maintaining his humbleness; unlike many others he never took his achievements to his ego. 46 recognitions so far and still counting, because Grish did not stop, he did not get tired, and he did not give up his determination.
Students evacuated
Stranded in Ukraine during the Russia–Ukraine war.
Seafarers & workers
Helped through distress, overstay and job loss.
Recognitions
Including the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, 2019.
Defining moments
When distance was never a show stopper.
5,000 kilometres, one WhatsApp group, 1,000+ students home.
Who says that only the team sitting in the ATC (Air Traffic Control) can lead a successful communication for the safe landing of passengers to ensure they reunite with loved ones? Here is the story of a man who, with dedication and passion, reunited more than 1,000 students stranded in Ukraine — operating from his base in Dubai across several different touch points.
With limited resources but unlimited passion, he planned the evacuation of helpless students during the Russia–Ukraine war through a WhatsApp group, in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Embassy. He proactively guided distressed students on how to plan, operated several hours during the day and worked through the night, ensuring the time difference was never a reason for him not to be available for anyone in need.
Police stations, hospitals and mortuaries — almost daily.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic caused great distress to people across the globe, Mr. Grish Paant assisted people in locating their ill friends and relatives in hospitals. His help to the Indian Consulate in Dubai in repatriating more than 80–90 non-Covid human remains to their respective home states, and more than 400–500 Covid and non-Covid mortal remains handled with the support of local authorities in Dubai and sent to India, stands noteworthy.
He made enormous efforts in this regard by visiting police stations, hospitals and mortuaries almost on a daily basis. He arranged food and medicines for the needy and identified those most in need of repatriation on Vande Bharat Mission and chartered flights. He also connected a large number of Indians with hospital authorities and gave solace to many others on the phone. Mr. Paant is a Board Member of the Hindu Cremation Ground, Dubai.
Humanitarian service
Some of the important work rendered by him.
- Helped hundreds of Indians during Covid-19 in coordination with the Consulate General of India, Dubai.
- A messiah to seafarers — he has helped hundreds of seafarers in distress through counselling, providing food, connecting them with their families and, above all, liaising with local government authorities and Indian Missions to raise their issues.
- He has done this work not only for those facing problems in the UAE but also in other countries such as Iran and Yemen.
- He has helped in the repatriation of 5,000+ seafarers, labourers who had overstayed, and people facing problems such as loss of jobs and accidents — for people of many nationalities (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Russia, Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, Nepal and other GCC and Middle East countries).
- Played an instrumental role in sending mortal remains from the UAE back home to India in various death and suicide cases. In a few cases, he has accompanied the mortal remains to hand them over to families in India.
- He has helped save many starving workers with the involvement of local authorities and the Government of India. Often at odd hours he goes himself to give food to workers facing difficulties — in one instance he went to give solace to abandoned labourers who had to live inside a bus on the outskirts of the Oman border.
- As a prominent social worker of the UAE, well known in India, he received several calls from India to help migrant workers during Covid-19 restrictions. He arranged safe passage of nearly 24 workers from Ahmedabad to Uttarakhand, and helped wherever possible.
- Grish attributes all his philanthropic acts to the people and the charm of his village, his upbringing, and God’s will. His humanitarian work was recognised when he was called for a panel discussion by the Minister of External Affairs, Late Smt. Sushma Swaraj, on the work of Indian community organisations for distressed Indians abroad.
- He was President of the Dubai Chapter of the Indian People’s Forum and President of Labour Welfare and Consular Affairs of the Indian People’s Forum in UAE, organising various socio-cultural programmes for the Indian community. Yoga and Hindi are of particular interest to him — he mobilised participation in International Day of Yoga programmes in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, and organised the annual Hindi Utsav in UAE schools.
- He has exceptional organising capabilities and has been at the forefront of bringing the Indian community together for visits of Indian ministers and dignitaries to the UAE.
Ethos of life
Society — he strives to make it better.
- He provides mental health counselling to vulnerable individuals and helps people cope with and fight the challenges of their lives.
- There is a strong desire inside him to work for the country. He gives proper advice and counsel to help people fight for their own rights.
- He helps young citizens accomplish their goals, and helps people identify and solve the problems in their lives.
- No act of kindness can be considered a small task to him.
- He loves to help others in the challenging moments of their lives, and believes that civilisation is the process of respecting yourself as well as others.
- He gives people strong counselling to make them strong enough to survive through cruel situations.
- Always eager to help society become equal for every citizen — he knows the real dignity and worth of human life.
- He strives to get social justice for every person in society, and helps women stand with confidence in the face of abuse.
Impact on people
What the work has changed.
- Promoting Indian and UAE art and culture under the platform of Arts & Crafts as a co-founder and patron.
- Policy has been implemented for seafarers.
- Many fraudulent agency licences have been cancelled.
- He has helped people languishing in UAE jails over trivial issues such as disputes with employers, resolving them through mutual understanding.
- Many women who came to the UAE and fell prey to human trafficking through agents have been rescued through his coordination with local authorities — not only in the UAE but also in Tunisia, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
- He has helped several hundred blue-collar workers submit proper documentation to get their fines waived by local government authorities, ensuring they were repatriated to India legally.
- During Covid, as President of the Indian People’s Forum, he sent more than 6 chartered flights to different states of India, rescuing thousands of blue-collar workers without proper passports or legal documents.
- He acted as a forefront warrior during the Vande Bharat Mission alongside the Dubai Consulate and other officials at the airport.
Roles & responsibilities
Positions held.
Presently holding
- Volunteer Committee In-charge — Overstay & Seafarers, Consulate General of India, Dubai, UAE
- Advisor — Rescue Every Distressed Indian Overseas (REDIO), UAE
- MENA Advisor — Rootskills, Sustainable Development & Environment Conservation
- Director — International Affairs, CSR Times
- Member — International Working Committee, Pancham Dhaam, Cambodia
- Chairman (UAE) — Satya Sai Orphan Trust, Trivandrum
- Member — Hindi Council India
- Volunteer Foreign Correspondent (UAE) — Hindi Khabar, 24×7 news channel, India
- Patron & Co-Founder — Arts & Crafts, promoting innovative and artistic talent from around the world, Dubai, UAE
- Advisor — Sreevats Memorial Trust, Bangalore
Former positions
- President, Dubai — Indian People’s Forum, UAE (2015–2018)
- President, UAE (Labour Welfare & Consular Affairs) — Indian People’s Forum, UAE (2018–31 July 2020)
- Director CSR — Contracting Group of Companies, UAE (2019–2020)
- General Secretary — India International Trade Development Organization, UAE
- Committee / Board Member — Hindu Cremation Ground Committee, Dubai, UAE
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