"Smiles, Cheers": Assam Students Return From Kota After 2,000 km Bus Ride

Nearly 400 students from Assam, who were stranded in coaching hub Kota in Rajasthan amid a nationwide lockdown over coronavirus, returned to Guwahati earlier this morning after a 2000-km bus ride; they have been sent to a 14-day quarantine.   

"After a long journey from Kota 391 children are back, with smiles & cheers. To ensure they & their families remain safe, we are putting them into 14-day quarantine. Today around 3 am, I & @Pijush_hazarika received them and ensured smooth shifting at Sarusajai Sports Complex (sic)," Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote in a tweet this morning.

A team of officials and policemen was sent from the state on Thursday to facilitate the evacuation of the students from Rajasthan after requests from their families and the Ashok Gehlot government.

After a long journey from Kota 391 children are back, with smiles & cheers. To ensure they & their families remain safe, we are putting them into 14-day quarantine. Today around 3 am, I & @Pijush_hazarika received them and ensured smooth shifting at Sarusajai Sports Complex. pic.twitter.com/2kg0SrQqkG

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) April 26, 2020

They were sent to Jaipur on a chartered aircraft - a Learjet 45 double engine plane. However, this chartered plane was not used for the evacuation operation, government sources said. 

All the students and some parents who returned from Kota have now been quarantined at a state-run facility; they will be tested for coronavirus.  

Last month, thousands of students preparing for competitive medical and engineering exams were stuck in Kota, a town famed for its coaching institutes, after transport services were shut to break the chain of transmission of coronavirus.

BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh was the first state to make arrangements for their evacuation; 300 buses were sent to bring back these students from Rajasthan. However, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a BJP ally, had criticised the move calling it "injustice" to the lockdown.

Last week, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that five more states, including Assam, have been allowed by the central government to bring back the stranded students. Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh were the other four states.

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.