The Uttar Pradesh government has brought back 130 students of the state from violence-hit Manipur till Thursday, it said. Thirty-two students were brought back on Thursday while another 12 will return on Friday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it brought back 98 students, according to a statement issued by the government.
The students are first being brought to Delhi via different routes. All 32 students who returned on Thursday directly landed at the Lucknow airport. These students were studying in different academic institutions in Manipur and were evacuated on the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath following the outbreak of violence in the state.
"Most of the students have already been evacuated from Manipur. After bringing back 12 more students on Friday, there will only be 16 student left, of whom five have refused to come back while 11 are coming back on their own," Relief Commissioner Prabhu Narain Singh said. Singh added that the state government's priority is to safely bring back the students from Uttar Pradesh studying in Manipur at the earliest.
"Earlier, we got information about 136 students being in Manipur for which a campaign was launched to bring them back. After this, 22 more students were found. Now teams are in action to bring them back too," Singh said. "The state government is sending the students safely to their homes by road. All the students coming from Manipur are being properly taken care of," he added.
According to state government officials, 52 students from Uttar Pradesh are enrolled in the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Manipur; 47 in the National Institute of Technology, Manipur; 30 in the National Sports University; three in the Central Agricultural University and two in medical colleges. Some students are also enrolled in private institutions.
Singh said the state government has set up a 24x7 helpline -- 1070 -- and the Manipur administration is fully cooperating to evacuate the students about whom information has been received. Violent clashes broke out in Manipur after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in 10 hill districts of the northeastern state on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribes status.
At least 60 people were killed and over 30,000 rendered homeless in rioting which engulfed Manipur last week, even as curfew continues to be imposed in 11 districts of the state.
