Odisha govt comes to the rescue of 65 students stranded in Ukraine

Bhubaneswar: Intensifying its efforts to bring back Odisha students stranded in Ukraine, the state government has successfully rescued as many as 65 of them from the war-torn country.

The rescued students were stuck in Kharkiv and Pisochyn areas of Ukraine for three days and undergoing severe inconvenience.

By arranging two buses, the Odisha government managed to evacuate the students towards the western border of Ukraine.

Efforts were on to bring them back to India with the help of Operation Ganga launched by the Central Government to evacuate its citizens from the war-ravaged Ukraine.

Till now, a total of 199 from Odisha have returned to India from Ukraine, safely, a release from the Chief Minister’s Office said.

Worth mentioning, the Odisha government has nominated special representatives in four countries to coordinate the smooth evacuation of people from the state stuck in different border points of war-torn Ukraine.

Issuing an order to this effect, Odisha Chief Secretary S.M. Mahapatra said that owing to the crisis prevailing in Ukraine, a number of people, especially students, from Odisha are still stranded in Ukraine who need to be evacuated.

Also, a number of students/ professionals from Odisha have crossed over to the neighbouring countries like Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia from where they are being evacuated by the Ministry of External Affairs by special flights, Mahapatra said.

In this backdrop, the Odisha government has decided to nominate four special representatives to the four countries to coordinate with the Resident Commissioner, New Delhi, and the respective countries to ensure smooth evacuation of students and other Odia people from Ukraine, especially from the border locations.

Vice President of KIIT University, Vikramaditya, has been nominated for Poland, while Arushi Ray, who works for UNHCR, has been appointed for Hungary.

Similarly, Baishali Mohanty, UN policy officer, WFP, Rome, will make necessary coordination for evacuation of Odia people at the Romania border, whereas Anurag Pattnaik, a consultant based in Hungary, will look after the evacuation of Odia people from the border point in Slovakia.

The Resident Commissioner’s office in New Delhi will be the nodal office for the purpose. The entire expenses for the purpose will be met out of the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF), said the Chief Secretary.

As on today, India has successfully brought 18,000 of estimated 20,000, i.e. 90% of Indians stranded in Ukraine, into the safe zone.

(With agency inputs)