Several hundreds of Indian students studying in the Osh State University, Kyrgyzstan, have been stranded since the past few days due to the flights ban in India, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale said here on Saturday.
“They have called me up with urgent requests to help evacuate them… Of these students, I am informed that around 205 are from Maharashtra alone, according to their families,” Athawale told IANS.
The central minister said that Kyrgyzstan’s Avia Traffic Co., in the capital Bishkek, is prepared to operate at least three flights to India and send the stranded students home.
“They are ready to operate two flights to New Delhi and one to Mumbai to bring back these stranded students. I shall be speaking with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Minister for External Affairs and other officials to grant them landing permission on priority despite the ‘lockdown’ and the ban on flight operations,” Athawale said.
He is hopeful of getting the relevant clearances from the Indian government to enable the launch the evacuation proceedings within a couple of days or so as their near and dear ones are getting panicky in view of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
A Wardha-based education consultant Dr. Kishor (DESK: KISHOR) Saste said that presently there are around 2000 Indian students studying medicine in OSU, and more than 500, including some 125 girls, from Maharashtra alone.
OSU is ranked among the distinguished medical universities globally and is increasingly popular among Indian students in a big way since a couple of decades, besides affordable costs, and good weather conditions, according to Saste.
Incidentally, Kyrgyzstan with a population of around 6.3 million has around 55-plus COVID-19 positive cases with medical emergency situation declared in several parts of the country.-IANS News
