While families of 39 students stranded in Ukraine are in touch with the district administration, ministry of external affairs records show that 112 youngsters from Ludhiana were studying in the war-torn country.
Deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said the Centre shared a list of stranded students from the district with the state government on Wednesday. “We are trying to get in touch with the families, but some numbers are switched off or not reachable. Thirty-nine families have reached out to us on the helpline number so far. Some students from the district have successfully crossed the border and are now in Poland and Hungary. We are doing our best to ensure their safe return, and are actively in touch with the Centre,” he said.
Almost all stranded students from the district are studying at medical colleges, with the majority of them enrolled at Kharkiv National Medical University. With the city under siege, and reports of shelling and explosions pouring in, students are staying put in bunkers at their hostels.
One of the students, Aman Jha, who was also in Kharkiv, has been able to leave for Hungary. His father, Rajeev Jha, vice-president, Oster Group, a resident of Mundian Kalan, said his son had taken the bus to the railway station in Kharkiv at 6am and was on his way to Hungary. “We are anxiously waiting for our son’s return. The network also keeps disconnecting as they put their phone on ‘airplane mode’ to avoid detection by Russian forces. We last spoke to him this morning (March 2), and he told us that he will be reaching Hungry via train.”
{{/usCountry}}One of the students, Aman Jha, who was also in Kharkiv, has been able to leave for Hungary. His father, Rajeev Jha, vice-president, Oster Group, a resident of Mundian Kalan, said his son had taken the bus to the railway station in Kharkiv at 6am and was on his way to Hungary. “We are anxiously waiting for our son’s return. The network also keeps disconnecting as they put their phone on ‘airplane mode’ to avoid detection by Russian forces. We last spoke to him this morning (March 2), and he told us that he will be reaching Hungry via train.”
{{/usCountry}}However, Alice Arora of Khanna, a second year MBBS student, is still stuck in Kharkiv. Her father, Devinder Arora, said she has been staying in the university’s bunker since the war broke out.
Not being able to keep in touch with their wards is exacerbating parents’ worries. “To avoid detection, they have been asked to keep their phones on ‘airplane mode’. We just receive one message a day, in which she reassures us that she is alright and that she had food. We haven’t spoken to her in a long time and after a student was killed in shelling, we have asked her stay indoors,”he said.