Gurugram takes steps to evacuate students stranded abroad amid COVID-19 outbreak

The Gurugram district administration has decided to evacuate students stranded in foreign countries amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Vijay Verdhan, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Haryana wrote letters to all District Magistrates, asking them to gather data of such students.

In order to help students in reaching out to the District Administration, Amit Khatri, District Magistrate of Gurugram, issued an email address -- covid19gurugram@gmail.com on Wednesday.

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Khatri said, since Gurugram comes under the national capital region, the number of students studying in foreign countries is high. The parents sought Chief Minister’s help in rescuing the students stranded abroad amid the COVID-19 crisis. The DM further said parents can contact the authorities through the email address by mentioning overseas support. Following that, the administration will send a Google form where students can upload their information and concerns.

Khatri added that the Gurugram District Administration has already started gathering details of Haryana students stranded overseas, to reach out to them with the support of the Central government.

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SC says students stranded in the US cannot be evacuated

Last week, the Supreme Court while hearing a petition seeking evacuation of Indian citizens stranded in the United States, said that they cannot be brought back amid the coronavirus lockdown. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that the Indian citizens stranded in the US cannot be brought no matter how much we want. Earlier, a nodal officer had been appointed in New York to offer assistance to Indians stranded in the US.

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Petitioner and advocate Vibha Dutta Makhija said that there is no guarantee of visas getting extended as the application for extension of visas costs around 500 dollars.

"Assistance is being given to them. They are spread across the US. They cannot be brought back. US government is extending visas. Let's wait for some time," the court said.

The apex court said that it cannot control the decision of a foreign government and added that the Indian government can request the US government to not create hurdles in the visa extension process.

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(Image credits: PTI)