90% calls to Bihar govt help line involve those seeking to return: Official

Such requests account for around 90% of the calls received on the state government’s disaster management department (DMD)’s dedicated helpline number (0612-2294600) from stranded students across the country, said officials.

Students from Bihar, who are stranded in Rajasthan and elsewhere, have reached out to the state government to make arrangements to ferry them back home amid the second phase of the ongoing nationwide lockdown restrictions, which were imposed on April 15 and will continue till May 3,

Of the 1,038 calls received by the DMD authorities till Monday, 34.39% callers were from Rajasthan. Image used for representational purpose only. (ANI)

However, the state government hasn’t been able to take a call on this, as it is awaiting the Union Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) directions.

Such requests account for around 90% of the calls received on the state government’s disaster management department (DMD)’s dedicated helpline number (0612-2294600) from stranded students across the country, said officials.

“Around 90% of the callers have requested us to make arrangements to bring them back home. Another 5% have flagged difficulties in getting food, while the rest 5% have sought financial help as they’ve complained of running out of cash,” said M Ramachandrudu, additional secretary, DMD, Bihar.

Of the 1,038 calls received by the DMD authorities till Monday, 34.39% callers were from Rajasthan. Delhi accounted for 9.92%, Uttar Pradesh 5.78%, Madhya Pradesh 3.85%, Punjab 2.89%, West Bengal 2.40%, Haryana 2.31%, Karanataka 2.21%, Maharashtra 1.54%, Odisha 1.15% and Jharkhand 1.73%.

The DMD authorities had taken prompt action on complaints related to the lack of food. “We’ve immediately spoken to the district magistrates concerned and arranged for food for the stranded,” said Ramachandrudu.

“Those who required financial assistance were told that they need to apply online to avail of the Rs 1,000 special assistance being given through the DMD under the Bihar Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. We’ve received over 25.15 lakh such requests and the money has been credited into the accounts of 15.92 lakh stranded people to date. The stranded students have been apprised of the MHA guidelines,” he added.

Bihar is strictly adhering to the Centre’s lockdown restrictions and has decided not to bring back stranded students and migrant workers till the time the MHA issues fresh directives.

On Monday, Kumar also raised this issue during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video-conference meeting with all the state CMs seeking their feedback on lifting lockdown restrictions after May 3.

On Tuesday, the Patna high court (HC) is slated to hear several petitions regarding the safe return of stranded students and migrant workers from the state.

The issue has taken political overtones, as the leader of opposition in the Bihar assembly, Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), accused the CM of “leaving the students and the migrant labourers from the state in the lurch during the lockdown”.

The RJD weighed in on the issue after the Uttar Pradesh government brought back around 7,500 stranded students from Rajasthan’s Kota, who were preparing for their medical and engineering entrance tests in the country’s coaching hub, via 250 state transport run-buses last week.

In a recent interview with HT, chief minister Nitish Kumar pointed out to the home ministry guidelines under the Disaster Management Act prohibiting inter-district and inter-state movement of individuals, except for health care staff, until May 3.

“There have been demands from students in many cities and migrants from many states to return home. More than 2.5 million people stranded outside Bihar have applied for special assistance from Bihar Chief Minister Relief Fund. This will give you an idea about the number of people stranded outside Bihar. We are sympathetic to their cause and have apprised the central government accordingly. If the order issued under the Disaster Management Act is relaxed to allow such movements, then we have no objection to that. The concerned states should do health screening of such people and allow them to travel if they are found fit,” Kumar said.