Congress asks why no buses for migrants as 'hashtag trending' Kota students return home

Following Uttar Pradesh government's decision to ferry back 7500 students from Kota, Congress MP Manish Tewari raised the demand for buses and trains to be operated in order to get the migrant labourers back to their respective states as well. 

Around 7500 students hailing from Uttar Pradesh are staying in hostels and paying guest accommodations in Kota city, known for its coaching centres especially for engineering and medical aspirants. Since the lockdown was imposed across the country last month to control the spread of COVID-19 infections, the students have been anxious to get back to their homes in different states. A social media campaign called#SendUsBackHome was started on Tuesday by the students stuck amid the pandemic. 

Taking to Twitter, Congress' Manish Tewari raised questions of why buses and trains cannot ply for migrant labourers while students were brought back to their homes. He further alleged that the students could place their demand on social media and make it trend while the poor migrants did not have the chance to and hence were deprived of transport back home. However, the Yogi-government had earlier organized transport facilities for the stranded migrants in Delhi-NCR region after phase 1 of the lockdown was implemented. 

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Congress asks why no buses, trains for migrants

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Kota administration makes arrangements 

Kota district collector Om Kasera, following the state-level decision, deputed ADM (Admin) Narendra Gupta to coordinate the arrangements with ASP Rajesh Mill. The buses from UP started reaching the coaching hub on Friday evening and are likely to start taking the students to their hometowns in UP after thermal screening by Friday night, the officials said. They added that only 30 students will be allowed to board one bus in order to ensure social distancing and prevent spread of infection.

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"We have enlisted the students district-wise to board the buses to travel to their hometowns in UP. They would be provided with face masks, sanitisers and food packets," Nitesh Sharma of Allen Career Institute said, adding that the instructions issued by the district administration are being followed to facilitate the students' return.

According to district officials, three locations -- the landmark Allen ground, Sakar building near hotel Country Inn and the private bus stand near Jawahar Nagar petrol pump -- have been marked for parking of the buses reaching Kota from UP. The buses, after boarding the students, would depart for their home destinations from six other locations -- Sangyan building, Cooperative building, Sathyarth building in Jawahar Nagar, Vibrant, Motion and Resonance buildings in Vigyan Nagar in the city, they said.

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