A group of 137 Indian students stranded in Ukraine reached Gujarat, their home state, on Saturday, officials said. It took the tally of those who have returned to the state from the war-hit country to 752. These students had landed in India by a special evacuation flight on Friday.
Education Minister Jitu Vaghani had earlier stated that some 2,500 students from Gujarat were stuck in Ukraine after that country was invaded by Russia. Vaghani, on Saturday, received the group of 137, all of them medical students, at the Gandhinagar circuit house.
With this, a total of 752 students have returned to Gujarat from Ukraine, he tweeted.
"The government is concerned about all the students who are stranded there, and is making arrangements for their safe evacuation to India and Gujarat," he told reporters.
"About 30 to 40 percent of 16 or 17 thousand Indian students have returned (to the country) so far, but those stuck in the critical (war) zone have not returned. It will be a huge achievement for the Indian government to bring back the students trapped in critical zones," one of the returning students said.
Another student was welcomed at his home town Savli in Vadodara district by BJP MP Ranjan Bhatt and local BJP MLA Ketan Inamdar.
Bhatt commended the patience shown by the student and his parents as he was awaiting evacuation.
With PTI inputs.
