Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has quite a few new and unlikely fans; ones that are neither his voters, nor belong to his state. UP being the first state to take home around 8000 students from his state, stranded in Kota, has placed Adityanath on top ranking as a chief minister among the students left behind; especially those from Bihar.
Over 350 buses had travelled to the coaching city of Kota in Rajasthan on April 17 and ferried home not just students from Uttar Pradesh, but also students from Uttrakhand. After Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s appeal to other states, next to respond was the Madhya Pradesh government sending over a 100 buses to take home students from its state.
Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Assam are in the process of making arrangements for the same. While students from these states are hopeful that they will soon go home, there is a feeling of despondency and anger among the students of Bihar and West Bengal. The hostels have become empty with just a handful remaining in each hostel. There are around 6,500 students from Bihar who have no hope as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has categorically refused to bring back the students. This had created in them a feeling of having been let down by their own government.
“I am feeling that government of my state is incompetent. The chief minister is not considerate towards the students from his own state. Yogi Adityanath spared no time to take home students of his state and the buses he sent even took students from Uttarakhand. Our parents talk to us several times a day, but it does not help. We are left behind and want to go home,” said Mihir Kumar from Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
What makes the situation more critical for the students is the ever increasing number of COVID-19 positives being tested in Kota. On the morning of 22 April the number had reached 114. With the administration now hard pressed to manage the situation and there being barely any staff in the hostels during the complete lockdown, life has become stressful and difficult indeed.
“Wish our CM has some feelings for us and find a solution to our plight. There is a lockdown and we live in hostels, we are facing so many problems. Coronavirus cases are constantly on the rise in Kota and we wish to go home,” said Atish Gaurav, a student from Samastipur.
“I am very angry with Nitish Kumar. He has not heard our pleas. We tried going home after taking a pass from the district collector of Kota but Bihar is not permitting anyone to enter its borders and placing them in quarantine. My sister and I are both living here in Kota for studies, but if there are no classes we want to go home,” said Azan.
The major part of the day’s schedule of these students has always been engaged in coaching and studying. As coaching institutes have been shut down there is a vacuum in their lives and also the purpose of being in the city is defeated. Most of these children are between the age group of 14 to 18 and are not mentally mature enough to deal with these uncertain circumstances all by themselves.
Dr Alok Gupta, paediatrician and adolescent counsellor opined, “What is unfolding before them is never seen before, strange situation. The children cannot comprehend its gravity and need to be in safe space with adults. Every child has access to news and the negative information can depress them. When some students who could be their friends or hostel mates have been sent home, a feeling of being abandoned can develop in them.”
“It can make them depressed, agitated and suffer mental turmoil. It is imperative that the remaining students should also be sent home. If any child takes any extreme step then it will be a huge loss,” told Dr Gupta to Free Press Journal.
But with the stand adopted by Bihar chief minister it seems unlikely that these students from Bihar will be able to go home and be with their families.
Over 1.5 lakh students live in Kota to get coaching for medical and engineering entrance exams. A large number of students had left Kota on April 20 after lockdown was announced in Rajasthan and trains stopped running and around 30,000 were left behind. Out of these an estimated 14,000 from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh have recently left by buses. This leaves around 6500 from Bihar, 3000 from Jharkhand, 2000 from Haryana, 2000 from Maharashtra, 1000 from North East and around 1000 from West Bengal.
