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‘Feels great’: 391 Assam students get back home from Rajasthan’s Kota amid lockdown
The 391 students started their 2000-kilometre journey from Kota in 17 buses and crossed through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to reach Chirang early on Sunday.
After states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Assam brought back nearly 400 students, who were stranded in Rajasthan’s Kota, on Sunday amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the coronavirus disease.
The 391 students started their 2000-kilometre journey from Kota in 17 buses and crossed through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to reach Chirang early on Sunday.
“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,” Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam’s health minister, tweeted.
“Returning to my home state feels great. We were taken care of. The government has done a lot for us. I thank them,” one of the students, who returned home, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The Assam government had air-dropped eight police officers to Kota last Thursday and they came back with the students. Each student said Rs 7,000 for the trip back home.
“Earlier, we’re not planning to bring them back, but we decided against it after UP, MP and Uttarakhand governments brought back their students. Besides, our students are young and are distressed because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” Sarma had said earlier.
Also read: 376 students from Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh stranded in Rajasthan’s Kota depart for home
The students, who were in quarantine in Kota, will have to undergo a test after five days following which doctors will decide whether their quarantine be extended beyond two weeks.
Sarma had said that the state government might facilitate a similar return journey for students from Assam, who are stranded in other states.
Kota, a hub for coaching centres catering to engineering and medical aspirants, is a popular destination for thousands of students from across India.
