200 stranded MBBS students from Nagpur to return on June 17

NAGPUR: Around 400 MBBS students from Maharashtra, including 200 from the city alone, are set to be evacuated under the third phase of the Vande Bharat Mission from Moscow on June 17. The students were stranded in Russia following the lockdown and restrictions on international flights.
NCP MLC Prakash Gajbhijye, who was approached by several parents from the city, said the students, from 15 universities, are studying in different years. He had asked the parents to prepare a list and found that the stranded students hail from Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Wardha and the city as well.
Later, the MLC approached MP Supriya Sule and state home minister Anil Deshmukh who requested chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to facilitate the return of the stranded students.
The students are scheduled to embark on the Moscow-Nagpur flight at 12.40pm on June 17. This would be the second Vande Bharat Mission flight from Russia. This first batch of stranded Indian nationals would fly out from Russia on a Moscow-Kochi plane on June 15. Ten more flights from the same departure point will reach Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Gaya, Vizag, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Bengaluru. As per the Indian Embassy in Moscow, additional flights will be considered in due course.
Gajbhiye thanked Sule and Deshmukh for their efforts in rescuing the students from the state. “The students are quite scared and worried about their admissions. Right now we just want them to return safely,” he said.
A woman from North Nagpur said her younger sister was stuck in Moscow since March. “The help from state and central governments has come as a big relief for not just parents here but also the students. Just like the problems we all are facing here because of the lockdown and coronavirus infection, they, too, are going through similar troubles. This was the first time my sister travelled so far. She would have returned this May for post-exam vacation,” she said.
Another relative said her brother is studying in a university near Moscow. “They were safe and didn’t face much problems with food and other necessities. We just wanted our loved ones near us during this phase of the pandemic,” the relative said.
A parent thanked Gajbhiye for proactively helping them and taking up the cause with higher authorities and the state government.