5 States To Evacuate Students Stranded In Rajasthan's Coaching Hub Kota

After Uttar Pradesh, five more states will make arrangements to bring back their students stranded in coaching hub Kota in Rajasthan because of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said today.

Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Assam are ready to take their students back from Kota, Mr Gehlot said.

The Chief Minister said the central government has cleared the move, which has been vehemently opposed by a key BJP ally, Nitish Kumar, as a violation of lockdown guidelines.

Rajasthan had spoken to the Union Home Secretary about the "mental tension" that the students were going through, far from their homes, Mr Gehlot told reporters via video link.

"The students are young, between 14 and 22. UP has taken back its students. Madhya Pradesh wants to take back students. Chhattisgarh has agreed, I have spoken to the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also. So Kota chapter will close," he said.

Since the country went into lockdown to fight the rapid spread of COVID-19 last month, thousands of students preparing for competitive medical and engineering exams have been stuck in Kota, a town famed for its coaching institutes.

Last week, as BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh sent 300 buses to fetch its students from Kota, the ruling party's Bihar ally Nitish Kumar raised strong objections, calling it an "injustice" to the lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fight COVID-19.

"The way special buses are being sent to ferry students from Kota, it is injustice with the principle of the lockdown," the Bihar Chief Minister told NDTV. He also pointed out that by the same logic, migrant labourers stuck in states far from their villages should also be allowed to travel home.

His government had also written to the central home ministry when a group of 300 students from Kota arrived in Patna, mostly in taxis, armed with permission from the Rajasthan government.

"This will open up a Pandora's box. If you allow students, on what grounds can you stop migrant labourers who are also stuck," Bihar Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar had said in the letter.

But soon after Nitish Kumar objected, his government issued movement passes to a BJP MLA, Anil Singh, to bring back his daughter, who was among the students stuck in Kota. The Chief Minister was taunted by critics like Prashant Kishor, recently expelled from his party, and RJD's Tejasvi Yadav.