Chandigarh, March 4
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab President and Member of Parliament Bhagwant Mann appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure safe repatriation of Indian students stranded in Ukraine, neighbouring countries and in border areas and to make immediate arrangements for the continuation and completion of their degrees here in India, so that the student does not suffer any more monetary and academic losses.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters, Bhagwant Mann told Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “Thousands of Indian students, mostly Punjabi and Haryanvi students, are still stranded in Ukraine. We are constantly getting anxious calls from parents and students who are stranded in Ukrainian cities like Kyiv and Kharkiv and on the international borders of Hungary, Poland, Romania etc. It is clear from the information and complaints received that the Indian government especially the Indian embassy have failed to do its job and they’ve failed to stay in touch with the students. In such a sensitive situation, the Indian embassies stationed in Poland, Hungary, Belarus, Russia and all other countries bordering Ukraine should have been coordinating and working day and night to ensure the safety of every Indian. But unfortunately, the coordination between the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and our embassies has been lax at the expense of Indian students and citizens.”
Bhagwant Mann said that the Central Government should form a committee to ensure that the students returning from Ukraine could continue their studies and complete their degrees without any hassle. Bhagwant Mann reiterated that the Central and State Governments should re-evaluate the country’s education system and make good policies and take concrete steps to address the shortcomings. Mann said that the students going abroad for study are not inferior in merit but they get the same opportunity and degree in countries like Ukraine at affordable fees, so they go to these countries. He said that the failure of our education system today was the result of continuous negligence and mistakes of previous governments and it is costing new and young generation great deal. Education, basic to higher, should be affordable to every section of the society, stressed Mann.
