JAIPUR: The Kushwaha family in Madhya Pradesh’s Nota village lived in unease, worrying about their son in faraway Rajasthan as the Coronavirus scare gripped the country and the lockdown had many stuck away from their homes.
Till, a video call from Kota, where 19-year-old Rajkumar Kushwaha was stranded for days, brought in a wave of happiness and relief.
Rajkumar is one of the 25,000 students who were recently evacuated to different states from Kota, and his parents, much like all the others, are ecstatic.
While parents are happy to have their children back home, they are grateful that their kids were taken care of by coaching centres, administration and locals in Kota while the states they belonged to made arrangements to get them back.
It took a month of dedicated and tedious effort on part of coaching institutes of Kota and the local administration to provide a safe environment for students.
The Kushwaha family is one of them.
“We knew he was being taken care of. But, nothing is more reassuring than seeing him right in front of our eyes,” saïd Dhan Singh, father of Rajkumar, who reached home from Kota on April 21. Rajkumar was studying in one of the coaching centres in Kota when the lockdown began.
Parents are now thanking the coaching centres, Kota administration and locals for going out of their way to take care of these students. From food to medical screenings and uninterrupted data supply to counselling, the joint effort ensured that the students were not exposed to unsafe environment and they did not go hungry.
“It would have been difficult for my parents to sleep at night, had I not spoken to them on video calls and told them how well we were looked after,” Rajkumar told TOI over phone. He is currently serving his 14-day quarantine period.
It was an unprecedented situation for the coaching town, which had almost 35,000 students from 23 states to look after other than providing coaching. The coaching institutes converted their classrooms into helpline centres and storehouses for the biggest relief work ever within a day of the lockdown.
The challenge of maintaining social distancing was met by providing single rooms to most of the students and was initiated by the local administration with the help of coaching institutes and hostel owners. This is the time of the year when the strength of coaching institutes is at its lowest. It helped them is adjusting most of the students in single rooms.
“They are like our children. Faculty members were given the responsibility of ensuring that food reaches on time, immediate medical care is provided and there is proper counselling, in case they showed signs of distress,” said Naveen Maheshwari, director of Allen Career Institute.
“It was a unique situation for us. We identified local food vendors and volunteers for the mammoth task of providing meals to students, many of whom lived in different parts of the city. Within a day, we developed a proper communication system with all our students to provide them round-the-clock assistance. Other than food, we provided service like repair of mobile phones so that they remain connected to their families,” said Resonance Eduventures Limited managing director RK Verma.
While authorities shared regular updates with parents, in sensitive cases, the faculty themselves took upon themselves to interact with parents.
Parents of Momina Beg — a 19-year-old student from Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar — were not happy about their daughter being locked up in Kota.
“Had my teacher not counselled them, my parents would have asked me to discontinue the coaching.
My teacher talked to them daily and even updated them on meals being served. My parents are now okay with me going back after the situation gets back to normal,” said Momina.
Uttar Pradesh government was the first to send busses for its 9,500 students and other states followed suit.
Rajesh Meel, ASP (headquarters) Kota and nodal officer for evacuation, said he coordinated with other states, lined up buses and maintained social distancing.
“It’s an emotional moment to see children being united with their families," said Meel.
“We are in constant touch with coaching institutes and providing them with assistance like granting of passes, transport,” he added. There are 10,000 students still stuck in Kota, mostly from Bihar and different parts of Rajasthan.
“We want to assure parents that their children are being taken care of,” said Maheshwari, who had 25,000 students in his centre when the lockdown began. In a joint statement, all stakeholders in Kota reiterated that all students who have left leaving their belongings behind, need not worry. “Belongings, hostel rooms, classes and teachers — everything will be as you had left them,” the statement read.
Till, a video call from Kota, where 19-year-old Rajkumar Kushwaha was stranded for days, brought in a wave of happiness and relief.
Rajkumar is one of the 25,000 students who were recently evacuated to different states from Kota, and his parents, much like all the others, are ecstatic.
While parents are happy to have their children back home, they are grateful that their kids were taken care of by coaching centres, administration and locals in Kota while the states they belonged to made arrangements to get them back.
It took a month of dedicated and tedious effort on part of coaching institutes of Kota and the local administration to provide a safe environment for students.
The Kushwaha family is one of them.
“We knew he was being taken care of. But, nothing is more reassuring than seeing him right in front of our eyes,” saïd Dhan Singh, father of Rajkumar, who reached home from Kota on April 21. Rajkumar was studying in one of the coaching centres in Kota when the lockdown began.
Parents are now thanking the coaching centres, Kota administration and locals for going out of their way to take care of these students. From food to medical screenings and uninterrupted data supply to counselling, the joint effort ensured that the students were not exposed to unsafe environment and they did not go hungry.
“It would have been difficult for my parents to sleep at night, had I not spoken to them on video calls and told them how well we were looked after,” Rajkumar told TOI over phone. He is currently serving his 14-day quarantine period.
It was an unprecedented situation for the coaching town, which had almost 35,000 students from 23 states to look after other than providing coaching. The coaching institutes converted their classrooms into helpline centres and storehouses for the biggest relief work ever within a day of the lockdown.
The challenge of maintaining social distancing was met by providing single rooms to most of the students and was initiated by the local administration with the help of coaching institutes and hostel owners. This is the time of the year when the strength of coaching institutes is at its lowest. It helped them is adjusting most of the students in single rooms.
“They are like our children. Faculty members were given the responsibility of ensuring that food reaches on time, immediate medical care is provided and there is proper counselling, in case they showed signs of distress,” said Naveen Maheshwari, director of Allen Career Institute.
“It was a unique situation for us. We identified local food vendors and volunteers for the mammoth task of providing meals to students, many of whom lived in different parts of the city. Within a day, we developed a proper communication system with all our students to provide them round-the-clock assistance. Other than food, we provided service like repair of mobile phones so that they remain connected to their families,” said Resonance Eduventures Limited managing director RK Verma.
While authorities shared regular updates with parents, in sensitive cases, the faculty themselves took upon themselves to interact with parents.
Parents of Momina Beg — a 19-year-old student from Uttar Pradesh's Ambedkar Nagar — were not happy about their daughter being locked up in Kota.
“Had my teacher not counselled them, my parents would have asked me to discontinue the coaching.
My teacher talked to them daily and even updated them on meals being served. My parents are now okay with me going back after the situation gets back to normal,” said Momina.
Uttar Pradesh government was the first to send busses for its 9,500 students and other states followed suit.
Rajesh Meel, ASP (headquarters) Kota and nodal officer for evacuation, said he coordinated with other states, lined up buses and maintained social distancing.
“It’s an emotional moment to see children being united with their families," said Meel.
“We are in constant touch with coaching institutes and providing them with assistance like granting of passes, transport,” he added. There are 10,000 students still stuck in Kota, mostly from Bihar and different parts of Rajasthan.
“We want to assure parents that their children are being taken care of,” said Maheshwari, who had 25,000 students in his centre when the lockdown began. In a joint statement, all stakeholders in Kota reiterated that all students who have left leaving their belongings behind, need not worry. “Belongings, hostel rooms, classes and teachers — everything will be as you had left them,” the statement read.
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