171 Madhya Pradesh students stuck in Kyrgyzstan seek CM's help

INDORE: As many as 171 medical students from Madhya Pradesh , who are stuck in Bishkek of Kyrgyzstan because of Covid-19 travel restrictions, have made an appeal to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to bring them back home.

Releasing a video, some medical students of International School of Medicine (ISM) in Bishkek (capital of Kyrgyzstan) said, “We are quarantined here (in Bishkek) for the last three months and during this period, our online classes have been completed and summer vacation has started”.

They said that they just wanted to return home and be with their parents.

“Students from across the country like Bihar , Rajasthan studying here have already been evacuated while around 200 students of MP are stuck here and it’s our request from the CM to send a flight for us to bring us back home,” the students pleaded.

Around 2500 kilometers away from these students, their parents in Madhya Pradesh have also made a similar appeal to the state government to help their children returning home.

“My daughter Shivani is studying MBBS in Bishkek for the last two years,” said her father CP Tripathi of Jhabua , adding that under Vande Bharat mission, Rajasthan, Bihar and Delhi have managed to get their students back. “Students of MP are nervous and anxious as their wait to get help from the state government is getting longer,” he said.

Dr Kritika Thakur (Indore), elder sister of a MBBS 1st year student studying in ISM (Bishkek), told TOI, “We want a direct flight from Indore or Bhopal to bring back students as if they will land in Delhi, they are likely to be put in institutional quarantine for next 14 days”.

She said that her brother Devesh is 18-year-old and it’s the first time he has been staying in another country as medical education is around two times cheaper in Kyrgyzstan than India. “Kyrgyzstan has become one of the top choices for Indian students to pursue MBBS. In this academic season, over 10,000 Indian students are studying there,” she said.

Another resident of Indore Prakash Rawaliya told TOI, “My son Suraj is second year MBBS student in Kyrgyz State Medical Academy (KSMA, Bishkek).

The college administration has allowed him and other students to return but non-availability of international flight from India is creating problem”. He said that he had approached MP Shankar Lalwani . The parents have also made available list of 171 students from Indore, Ujjain, Dewas and other parts of Madhya Pradesh, who are stuck in Bishkek and want to return.

“If students of MP are stuck in Bishkek and want to return to their hometown, we will approach the civil aviation and external affairs minister to make required arrangements to bring them,” Lalwani told TOI.