46 MP students stranded in Ukraine safe, but exact numbers not known
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Feb, 2022 01:11 PM
Bhopal, Feb 25 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government said on Friday that 46 students from the state who registered with the Chief Minister's helpline are safe in Ukraine. However, it is not known exactly how many students from the state are stranded in the war-hit country.
IANS contacted various officials in different departments of the state government to know the exact number of students from the state stranded in Ukraine, but no concrete information was received on the same.
A senior official in the medical education department said the department does have information on the number of students studying in overseas countries.
The students go to foreign countries to study as per the contract between them and the respective universities, an official said.
"The department has no role in sending students to overseas countries. Instead, they tie up directly with the universities and therefore, the department has no idea about it," said a senior official in the medical education department.
Another official said the department carries information of only those students who go to foreign countries for study after receiving a scholarship from the state government.
As per the home department, so far, 46 students stranded in Ukraine have contacted them or have registered their complaints with the Chief Minister's helpline and they are safe.
However, as per sources, over 60 medical students are in Ukraine from Indore alone.
Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Rajesh Rajora, informed on Thursday that among the students who have registered with the CM's helpline -- nine are from Bhopal, three each from Indore and Raisen, four each from Dhar, Ujjain and Dewas, two each from Barwani and Sehore and one each from Jabalpur, Gwalior, Chhindwara, Morena, Narmadapuram, Dindori, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Khargone, Jhabua, Barwani, Sagar, Balaghat, Ratlam and Burhanpur.
"They all are safe in Ukraine and have been asked to follow the instructions of the Indian Embassy there. They have also been provided with call centre numbers, the Embassy's email id and other contact details," Rajora told the media.
The announcement came shortly after President Vladimir Putin authorised a "special military operation" in the conflict-hit Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Flights to Kiev, Dnepr, Lvov and Odessa airports "are restricted due to potential hazard for civil aviation
The United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday that the situation was quickly deteriorating after Russia's invasion. It appealed to neighbouring countries to keep their borders open to people seeking a safe haven.
There are an estimated 25,000 Indian students in Ukraine alone who are pursuing medicine, engineering, and science courses. More than 2,500 students from Tamil Nadu are estimated to be studying in Ukraine.
The Foreign Secretary stated that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has spoken to his Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, and Slovakian counterparts for setting up a camp at border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals. He also stated that flight options are available through Dubai and Istanbul and that the Indian Embassy continues to be operational in Ukraine.
The Ministry of External Affairs in touch with all the neighbouring countries surrounding Ukraine to even evacuate Indian citizens. Many citizens who were to fly back to India were left at the airport after closure of Ukrainian airspace following Russia's Vladimir Putin announcement of a military operation in Ukraine.
Amidst the prevailing tension, the Indian students stranded in Ukraine are left with no choice but to queue up outside the Indian Embassy in Kiev seeking the authorities' help as they ran out of food and money. The Russian military actions in Ukraine have triggered panic among all sections, including students from India.
