While 70 state transport buses left Dhule in Maharashtra on Wednesday morning to bring back students stranded at Kota in Rajasthan due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown, a batch of 26 students and seven parents of Raigad district arrived in Kharghar on Wednesday morning. The credit goes to Nidhi Chaudhary, collector of Raigad district who acted fast after getting consent from the state government and brought back students with the help of the collector of Kota district.
Students and their parents heaved a sigh of relief after they reached Kharghar early morning of April 29.
All the students underwent a mandatory health check-up at the Gram Vikas Bhawan in Kharghar soon after they arrived, and fortunately, all of them were asymptomatic. However, they were put on mandatory 14 days home quarantined.
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Kota in Rajasthan is a hub of coaching institutes for the preparation of engineering and medical entrance exams and students from across the country go there.
Raigad district collector Chaudhary, herself monitored the journey of students and ensured that there should not be any inconvenience to students as they were already stressed due to cancellation of examinations and stranded away from home since the lockdown was enforced.
Chaudhary said that they had started receiving calls from parents soon after the Uttar Pradesh government brought back their students from Kota. “We had already the data of students from Raigad district stranded in Kota,” said Chaudhary. She added that soon after the Maharashtra government’s decision came to bring back students, they initiated the process.
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Students' data were matched with data provided by the state government. The Raigad administration talked to all students and found that 26 students and seven parents are ready to come back. A student wanted to stay in Kota to continue exam preparation. However, his guardian staying with him wanted to come back, and so he was brought back.
Chaudhary talked to the collector of Kota who arranged a luxury bus for students. Meal served during the journey was also arranged for the students in Ujjain. She said that she monitored the whole journey throughout the night and talked to the bus driver for safe driving. She also visited the Gram Vikas Bhawan and interacted with the students when they reached Kharghar. She also counseled students and advised them to stay at home and continue their preparation. Parents appreciated the effort of the district collector who had come along with the students from Kota.