It was utter chaos and a serious administrative lapse at Kota station on Sunday when students from Bihar reached there. The administration had sent a message to 1,000 students and over 2,000 students reached the station as they had received a message from coaching institutes. Matters escalated when those with requisite permission from the administration were left out while others were screened and seated in the train. Ultimately, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the Kota MP, had to intervene and arrange another train to accommodate all.
Special trains for the 12,000 Bihar students have been arranged between May 3-6. The first train left for Begusarai at 10 am on Sunday. The district administration had sent a message to 1,000 students to report at the station. Over 2,000 students reached there and half had a message from their coaching institutes to report for travel.
The district administration and Kota police watched helplessly as the institutes representatives took charge of all activities and seated students without adequate permission from the administration. It resulted in others scheduled to leave getting stopped at the gate and a 3-km-long queue of auto rickshaws was seen outside the station. The students with permission seemed upset aabout denial for travel and voiced resentment and were adamant on leaving on Sunday. Those without permission said their coaching institutes told them a message from the district administration was not necessary.
The matter was sorted out when Birla spoke to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and a second train to Begusarai was arranged. The Speaker tweeted “On receiving information about the large number of students travelling from Kota to Bihar, have spoken to Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal and one more train has been arranged for Begusarai. This train will leave between 3 and 4 pm.”
The second train left late in the afternoon. 10,000 Bihari students are still in Kota.
