West Bengal To Bring Back Over 2,500 Students From Kota

Kolkata: West Bengal has made arrangements for the transport of 2,500 to 3,000 students from Kota to the state, ANI reported. The students stranded in Rajasthan in view of the nationwide lockdown will board buses today, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told the media. Mamata Banerjee added that the students would reach West Bengal from Kota in three days.

Meanwhile, Assam has also decided to bring back students stranded in Kota to the home state. Health Minister Hemanta Biswas Sarma told a well-known television network that plans were afoot to bring the students back from Rajasthan. The students are likely to be subjected to a health check-up and screening on arrival.

Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have already transported students from their respective states stranded in Kota back to their home states. The Rajasthan government had appealed to various states to make arrangements to take students back to their native places. Others staying in the same hostels had vacated them, pushing a number of students into dire straits.

The states have come in for criticism from various quarters for showing concern for students while ignoring the plight of migrant workers stranded in various parts of the country. When asked about this aspect, the Assam Health Minister stated that students, who were mostly under eighteen, and workers, were two separate categories and could not be compared.