Srinagar: Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir BVR Subrahmanyam has written a letter to Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, urging him early airlifting of remaining stranded J&K students from Bangladesh so that they could reach home before ensuing Eid-ul-Fitr.
“The Government of India in its efforts to evacuate stranded persons in different countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic has launched ‘Vande Bharat Mission’ to facilitate movement of these persons by air and sea,” reads the letter.
The first batch of 168 students of J&K studying in Bangladesh have been airlifted to Srinagar International Airport on May 8.
“As per data with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, 230-240 students are still stranded in Bangladesh and are agitating for their early return to Jammu and Kashmir. Their early return attains significance in view of the ongoing holy month of Ramadhan and the approaching Eid festival falling on May 25,” reads the letter, adding, “With the present plan of evacuating these students in a staggered manner, there is every apprehension that such students who have to take flights at later dates would get anxious. This needs to be mitigated, keeping in consideration the extreme distress prevalent in the stranded students/persons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In the end, the chief secretary requested for personal intervention of the foreign secretary for arranging return of these students to Srinagar International Airport in a single flight by arranging their airlift in an aircraft with a capacity of 250 persons so that they reach Jammu and Kashmir well before the Eid festival.
