Of 900 pupils from state, 62 back home from Ukraine so far: Punjab Govt
Chandigarh/Ludhiana, March 3
Sixtytwo Punjab students have returned home from Ukraine since February 27 while nearly 900 got stuck in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
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“The number of the returnees may be slightly higher as not all may have reported their arrival to the Punjab Government,” said ADGP MF Farooqui, who is nodal officer of the state for handling the crisis.
“Nearly 150 to 200 students are in transit and may return by tomorrow,” he said.
The government has created a data base for students stuck in Ukraine. “About 900 have got registered on the state helpline number or the respective district administration,” said Farooqui, adding, “the information is scattered and situation is quite fluid.”
Information about students from some of the districts revealed that none of the 56 students from Jalandhar and 27 from Kapurthala have come back.
Of 37 students from Patiala, two have returned. In Ropar, seven of the 27 students have returned while nine are stuck at different locations. The whereabouts of the remaining was not known till the filing of the report.
“Three students (total 7) from Sangrur, one (9) from Malerkotla and one (10) from Barnala have returned,” the information said.
Meanwhile, the Ludhiana administration claimed as many as 13 students from district are not in touch with families while nine others are still stuck in the war-torn country, but are in contact with their parents back home.
It had so far been able to identify 112 Ludhiana natives, who were pursuing medical studies in Ukraine. Of them, 90 have already been evacuated safely. While 49 medicos have reached India, 41 others have been safely shifted to other neighbouring countries from where their return is being arranged, the administration claimed.
Sharing details, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said on Thursday that all these 112 medical students were traced after their families and relatives reached the district administration through a 24×7 helpline launched to trace and evacuate them.
