15 Tibetan students evacuated from Vadodara reach Dharamshala

The Central Tibetan Administration brought home the first batch of 15 stranded Tibetan students stuck in Vadodara in the latest evacuation in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown, an official said on Wednesday.

CTA is also known as the Tibetan government-in-exile with its headquarters in Dharamshala.

Tibetan Health Minister Choekyong Wangchuk, who's also the chair of the CTA COVID-19 Task-Force said, “Earlier this month, Tibetan students studying in Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Baroda were notified by the university authorities to vacate the hostel and return to their home states as part of the state's measures to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19."

As the students turned to the CTA for help, the Education department of the government immediately sprang into action, he said.

He added that, so far, the administration has been able to bring back 87 students from Vadodara to their home states.

The first batch comprising 29 students safely reached Dehradun on May 10. The second batch of two students reached Mainpat, Chattisgarh on May 12. In the third batch, 10 students reached Leh in Ladakh on May 17. The fourth batch of 27 students heading to Arunachal Pradesh reached their homes on May 18.

“Of the total 19 students from the fifth batch, 15 arrived here at Dharamshala on Tuesday and four were received at Delhi on Monday,” the minister added. All students are being put on 14-day quarantine period in their native places.

Wangchuk added that the task-force gave each student a thermometer to monitor any symptoms of COVID-19. The students were safely lodged into the quarantine facility which was divided into separate quarters for boys and girls and a stocked-up kitchen with a cook to provide the students with healthy meals.

An official advised the students to abide by the quarantine norms and additionally advised them to chant prayers to calm their mind.