Mohan Nannapaneni, a Telugu entrepreneur in the US and founder of TEAM Aid
Hyderabad
The recent directive of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to allow the transportation of human remains to India even if the original passport of the deceased is not available is seen as a breakthrough for families facing this problem from foreign soil.
Mohan Nannapaneni, a Telugu businessman in the United States who has been pushing for this through his team TEAM Aid for several years, sees the move as a huge relief to families in India. “It was a nightmare that compounded the suffering of the bereaved households,” he told The Hindu.
Mr. Nannapaneni, who previously served as president of the Telugu Association of North America (TANA), founded TEAM Aid to tackle this critical issue of repatriating Indian remains and overcome procedural delays that sometimes lasted months.
“Having facilitated the repatriation of over 3,000 mortal remains from various countries with TEAM Aid, I feel the changes to section 19 of the Immigration and Aliens Act 2025 will be a significant relief to grieving families, airlines and consulates around the world,” said Mr Nannapaneni, who was instrumental in getting all Indian communities working together.
As president of TANA, he faced difficulties in dealing with such unfortunate situations. With several volunteers in every US state, he established TEAM Aid, which has done a commendable job of repatriating remains, raising funds and meeting strict standards.
“We realized that the norms of the Immigration and Aliens Act could be relaxed to provide relief to the unfortunate families who were already pained and shaken by the loss of their loved ones,” he said, recalling numerous cases where the absence of a passport led to delays or denials by airlines.
TEAM Aid has brought the issue to the attention of the relevant ministry as well as embassies, in addition to community leaders such as Jaipur Foot USA Chairman Prem Bhandari. Mr Nannapaneni thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for their positive response and compassionate actions.
The MHA has amended some standards stating that human remains are classified as cargo, not passengers, under section 19 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025. Therefore, no immigration permit is required to transport human remains.
Now, airlines cannot insist on the original passport of the deceased once the Indian Mission issues a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and can submit the NOC and basic details of the deceased to the immigration authorities on arrival. The absence of a passport does not constitute any violation of the law.
Published – 29 Nov 2025 20:32 IST
