MANGALURU: Twenty-two class 9 students from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Mudipu, in Dakshina Kannada district are stranded in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha due to suspension of train services owing to the lockdown.
The group, which includes 12 girls, visited JNV Amroha as part of an academic migration programme, which concluded on March 16. Their 22 counterparts from JNV Amroha were also in Mudipu but were sent back home before the shutdown was enforced.
Parents of the kids are seeking the government’s help to ensure their safe return. Surekha Shetty, member, JNV School Development and Monitoring Committee, said it’s the government’s responsibility to bring them back. “My daughter is part of the group held up in Amroha. We are in touch with the children and authorities of JNV Amroha. They are being provided food, masks and necessary medicines. However, they miss their parents, relatives and home food. The migration programme aims to familiarise the kids with the culture of another region. The children are adjusting but are upset over not being able to see their parents,” explained Surekha.
The students had left Mudipu on July 13, 2019 for the first phase of migration. They returned home for a 20-day winter vacation in December and returned to Amroha in the first week of January 2020. They were supposed to take a train on March 22 but it was cancelled due to the Janata Curfew. The 22 kids from UP who were in Mudipu as part of the programme were sent back on March 19 itself, she said.
“We had requested the authorities in Amroha to book flight tickets for our children, but they did not respond. We have no idea when the lockdown will be over. Parents have appealed to the MLAs in their respective constituencies and the children have spoken to Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel seeking a special arrangement to facilitate their return. Parents are not able to meet and discuss the issue due to the lockdown. Mangaluru MLA UT Khader helped us meet Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh on one occasion,” added Surekha.
Khader said, “I have discussed the matter with MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and the DC. The MP has agreed to write to the Union home ministry seeking help. The Centre made similar arrangements when students from Italy arrived in New Delhi recently. A special bus was arranged to send them to their homes in different states. The ministry can help the DK children too.”
The group, which includes 12 girls, visited JNV Amroha as part of an academic migration programme, which concluded on March 16. Their 22 counterparts from JNV Amroha were also in Mudipu but were sent back home before the shutdown was enforced.
Parents of the kids are seeking the government’s help to ensure their safe return. Surekha Shetty, member, JNV School Development and Monitoring Committee, said it’s the government’s responsibility to bring them back. “My daughter is part of the group held up in Amroha. We are in touch with the children and authorities of JNV Amroha. They are being provided food, masks and necessary medicines. However, they miss their parents, relatives and home food. The migration programme aims to familiarise the kids with the culture of another region. The children are adjusting but are upset over not being able to see their parents,” explained Surekha.
The students had left Mudipu on July 13, 2019 for the first phase of migration. They returned home for a 20-day winter vacation in December and returned to Amroha in the first week of January 2020. They were supposed to take a train on March 22 but it was cancelled due to the Janata Curfew. The 22 kids from UP who were in Mudipu as part of the programme were sent back on March 19 itself, she said.
“We had requested the authorities in Amroha to book flight tickets for our children, but they did not respond. We have no idea when the lockdown will be over. Parents have appealed to the MLAs in their respective constituencies and the children have spoken to Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel seeking a special arrangement to facilitate their return. Parents are not able to meet and discuss the issue due to the lockdown. Mangaluru MLA UT Khader helped us meet Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh on one occasion,” added Surekha.
Khader said, “I have discussed the matter with MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and the DC. The MP has agreed to write to the Union home ministry seeking help. The Centre made similar arrangements when students from Italy arrived in New Delhi recently. A special bus was arranged to send them to their homes in different states. The ministry can help the DK children too.”
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