Mumbai: Maharashtra government will bring back 2,000 students stranded in Kota, Rajasthan because of coronavirus lockdown. Transport Minister Anil Parab on Tuesday announced that 2,000 students will be transported by sending 100 buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in the next two days.
Parab’s initiative comes four days after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had discussed modalities to bring back students from Kota with his Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot.
They also discussed arrangements made for the students of Maharashtra in Kota and are collectively working on modalities to bring the kids back home.
Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan in a letter had urged Thackeray to make arrangements for those 2,000 students stuck up on Kota. A number of students from Maharashtra have been staying at Kota to take coaching classes for the preparation of various competitive entrance examinations after Class 12.
The state government’s move comes at a time when there is every possibility that the lockdown maybe extended in some of the major cities where the coronavirus situation is yet to come under control. ‘
’The Maharashtra government has decided to bring back the students who had gone to Kota. We will send some 100 buses from Dhule to Kota for the purpose, Parab said. The students will first be brought to Dhule district, which is located adjoining the Madhya Pradesh border, and then sent to their native places by state transport facilities, the minister said.
MSRTC officer said it has done necessary official communication with the governments of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, as the buses will be passing through these two states. He informed that after returning to the state the students and their parents will undergo medical check-up followed by the mandatory 14-day home quarantine.
The Rajasthan government last week in a release had said that at least 13,000 students from Uttar Pradesh, 2,800 from Madhya Pradesh and 350 from Gujarat had already reached their home towns from Kota, which is known for its coaching centres to prepare students for competitive exams, in the last few days.
