309 students hailing from Himachal evacuated from Ukraine so far, 149 still stuck: CM

Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday said that 309 people from the state have been evacuated from war-torn Ukraine so far.  Speaking during the budget session of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the chief minister said 149 students from the state are still stuck there. Several students from the state are still stuck in Ukraine's Kharkiv and Sumy, the chief minister said.  However, there is a bit of respite that the evacuation of students has also begun from Kharkiv, he added.  Every possible effort is being made to evacuate the students and the number of flights has been increased to do so, Thakur said. Indians have been brought back in large numbers in the Air Force and other planes from Ukraine's neighbouring countries Romania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia in the last two-three days, he added.  Several more Indians will be brought back to India from Ukraine's neighbouring countries in the coming days, he said.  The state government is in contact with the stranded students and their parents, he added. Congress legislator Asha Kumari said it has been learnt that Russia would provide a safe corridor for evacuation of the students stranded in Kharkiv and Sumy.  She sought to know the present status of the corridor. The Congress legislator further claimed that the students stuck in Kharkiv and Sumy did not even have water to drink. ''They are melting snow to drink water,'' she added. At this, the chief minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already spoken with the heads of both Russia and Ukraine for safe evacuation of the Indian students. He hoped that every stuck student would be brought back to India safely soon.

Haryana CM meets 6 students returning from Ukraine

PNS / Chandigarh

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday met six students along with their families hailing from Naraingarh and Ambala, who recently returned from Ukraine.

On a visit to Naraingarh to inspect the Chief Minister Antyodaya Parivar Utthan Yojana Mela organized at Ambedkar Bhawan in Naraingarh, the students who returned from Ukraine including Abhishek Verma, Harsh, Abhinav, Nidhi, Aman and Ashish and their families met the Chief Minister and during the conversation they shared how the Central Government and the State Government helped them in safely coming back from Ukraine. They also requested the administration that the studies of the students should not suffer in any case.

The Chief Minister said that the government would extend all possible support in this matter. He said that under the Operation Ganga launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the safe return of Indian citizens, the Government of India has brought back several thousand civilians from the war-torn Ukraine. To help the residents and students of Haryana state stranded in Ukraine, the state government has also set up Help Desks  at Delhi and Mumbai Airports and a Control Room has also been set up at the state level by appointing nodal officers. District Deputy Commissioners have also been directed in this regard to keep in touch with such families whose children are still in Ukraine.