Evacuate 1,300 Indian medical students stranded in Ukraine amid Covid-19 lockdown, Centre urged

With no flights scheduled out of Ukraine for the next few weeks, the students are holed up at Bukovinian State Medical University in Chernivtsi Oblast province

DHARAMSHALA: All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary and former Himachal Pradesh minister Sudhir Sharma on Wednesday urged the Government of India to evacuate 1,300 Indian students stuck at the Bukovinian State Medical University, Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine, due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

HT Image

“Indian students are at great risk. The central government should take prompt action and evacuate all stranded students on priority. About 250 of them are from Himachal Pradesh,” Sharma said.

With no flights scheduled out of Ukraine for the next few weeks, the students are holed up at the university.

The number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 1,500 in Ukraine, he said, and Chernivtsi Oblast province is the second worst hit region with 247 cases and six deaths after the capital city of Kiev.

EMBASSY’S HELP SOUGHT

Till the time the evacuation takes place, he said, the Indian ambassador to Ukraine should ensure their safety and arrangements should be made for their board and lodging.

He said the Centre should issue a statement that gives the number of Indian students stuck abroad.

“The central government is requested to prepare a dossier of Indian students studying abroad who have paid their fee to respective universities,” the Congress leader said.

“If the situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic doesn’t normalise and the lockdown is prolonged, the government should make arrangements to facilitate the fee reimbursement to the students,” he added.