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142 U.P. students brought back from Manipur, 5 ‘refused’ to come home
While some students were taken to Delhi from Imphal, many youngsters were flown directly to the Lucknow airport. Buses and cars were arranged to take these kids back to their home districts.
Out of the 158 students from Uttar Pradesh stranded in the violence-hit Manipur, 142 have been brought back by the state government, a senior official has said, adding 11 others came back on their own.
Relief commissioner Prabhu Narayan Singh said: “Soon after we found out that 158 students from U.P. were studying in various educational institutions in Manipur, a rescue operation was launched on the instructions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. In addition to the 142 who were brought back safely, 11 students returned to the state on their own. The remaining five refused to come back from Manipur. Thus, there is not even a single student left in Manipur who must be brought back by the government.”
He said, “The evacuation of students started on May 9. On the first day, 62 students were brought back, 36 on May 10, 32 on May 11 and 12 on Friday.”
While some of the 142 students were taken to Delhi from Imphal where arrangements for their rest and food were in place at the U.P. Bhavan, many youngsters were flown directly to the Lucknow airport. Buses and cars were arranged to take these kids back to their home districts.
Singh added: “There was full cooperation from the government of Manipur in evacuating the students of U.P. from the state... No U.P. student was injured or made a victim of any kind of violence.”
According to the official, most of the U.P. students who are pursuing their higher education in Manipur are from Lucknow, Prayagraj and Kanpur districts. While 65 are the students of IIT Manipur, 49 study in NIT Imphal, 30 in a sports’ university, two are studying to be doctors, three at the Central Agricultural University, 1 at the Manipur University of Culture and six others in JNIMS.
“A helpline number was launched to help the stranded students. After this we found out not 136 but 158 students were stuck in Manipur,” the official added.
