Over 1,200 students from Bihar, who had been stranded in Kota for more than a month due to lockdown, finally left for their home state in a special train on Sunday, but another 10,000 still remained stuck.

The 1,211 students seated in 24 coaches departed from Kota for Begusarai around 12 noon. A second train with no scheduled stoppage during the journey with another batch of students from Gaya Zone will depart Kota on Sunday night, railway officials said.

The Kota administration has notified students about their travel plans through texts on their mobile phones and only those students who have received the message are allowed to enter the railway station, said Pramod Mewara, a coaching institute member liaising with the district administration for the exercise. A large number of students had gathered outside the Kota station in the hope of boarding the train.

Over 12,000 students from different parts of Bihar had been stuck in Kota since the lockdown began on March 25. They had repeatedly urged the Bihar government to ensure their safe return to their homes amid the coronavirus outbreak. Some students had even staged a protest near their hostels against the Bihar government. But Chief Minister Nitish Kumar refused to arrange for the travel of the migrants, saying doing so would compromise the fight against the virus. He has been criticised for his stance, especially after the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh sent buses to Kota to bring its students, with the opposition RJD calling Kumar “totally confused”.

Nearly 500 students return to Delhi from Kota

Nearly 500 Delhi students stranded at Kota in Rajasthan due to the coronavirus lockdown returned to the national capital on Sunday morning in 40 private buses.

Delhi's transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the students, who arrived at the Kashmere Gate Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT), would be sent home in DTC buses after undergoing medical tests. With coaching classes cancelled, the students said they were confined to their hostels in Kota, the coaching hub for engineering and medical aspirants, and were feeling lonely and anxious.

The uncertainty over the lockdown period coupled with lack of clarity on exam dates was proving to be quite stressful for the students and they were relieved to be back home, they said.

“The hostel in which I lived, gradually emptied and only a few students were there. I longed for home and my family as I spent days in the hostel room amid lockdown restrictions. It was difficult to focus on anything amid this anxiety,” said Arun Kumar, a resident of Mohan Garden preparing for NEET in Kota.

Kumar said he was able to cope with other difficulties in Kota except “missing” his parents and was happy to return home.

Earlier, the Delhi government had said that more than 800 students would be brought back to the city from Kota in 40 private buses. However, the number came down to 480 as many names were repeated in the list prepared with the help of Kota administration, said Rajiv Singh, ADM (central), nodal officer for the evacuation operation of the Delhi government. “A total of 480 students have been brought back from Kota. All the students are reportedly fine,” Singh said.

He said the needs of students were taken care of by teams of Delhi government officials who accompanied them during the journey from Kota and that Civil Defence volunteers were deployed to move their belongings which included study material and books.

25 labourers hire bus to reach Rajasthan from Mumbai

Twenty-five migrant labourers from Rajasthan, who were stranded in Mumbai due to the lockdown, hired a private bus to go to their native places and sought travel permission from the police, which they granted after submission of documents, an official said on Sunday.

The bus carrying these migrants, who work at Metal Market, Dawa Bazar and other commercial places in South Mumbai, left around 5.30 pm on Sunday, the official said.

”They were stuck in the city due to the COVID-19 lockdown. However, after the Centre allowed the movement of stranded migrants, these people approached us with a request to allow them travel to Rajasthan in a bus hired by them. They also submitted their documents,” he said. Before starting the journey, Jalam Singh, one of the passengers who hails from Jalore district in Rajasthan, said, ”We are happy that we are finally going to our native place. We had approached the MRA Marg Police Station and sought their nod saying that we have hired a bus for travelling to Rajasthan. We submitted our documents and the police gave permission.” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1), Sangramsinh Nishandar, said, “These migrants had arranged the bus for themselves. It left the CST Junction in the evening. We sanitised the bus and screened the passengers, after which they were allowed to go.”