A total of 78 persons from Tamil Nadu comprising students and teachers, who were stranded in Kota, Rajasthan, the hub for coaching for competitive exams, due to the COVID-19 lockdown, are set to return following approval from the State government.
ADVERTISEMENT
V. Saravana Kumar, Commissioner of Horticulture Department for the government of Rajasthan, who is the Nodal Officer for Tamil Nadu, confirmed the development to The Hindu on Tuesday. The students got the permission on Monday night, after Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami signed the order for their return, he said.
The 78 persons comprise 55 students, who were staying at Kota undergoing coaching at various institutions in Kota to appear for entrance examinations such as Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Main) and National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), along with 23 parents. According to P. Tamilselvan, one of the parents, all 78 persons underwent COVID-19 screening tests arranged by the Kota district administration as ordered by the Collector Om Prakash Kasera. Upon receiving their health certificates, they boarded three buses from Kota to Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.
“These are AC sleeper buses and we are individually paying for it,” Mr. Tamilselvan said, who is from Udumalpet in Tiruppur district. He and his daughter, T. Aishwarya, have been staying in Kota for the past two years for her JEE preparations. He, along with parents Arunkumar and Maharasi, were the coordinators who represented the students to the Kota district administration, requesting to allow them to return to Tamil Nadu.
ADVERTISEMENT
The buses are expected to reach Tamil Nadu by Friday. The 78 persons will also be subjected to another screening test in Hosur and will be allowed to go to their respective districts upon testing negative for COVID-19, where they will be under home quarantine for 28 days. The students are from at least 14 districts including Chennai, Chengalpattu, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari, Mr. Tamilselvan noted.
The Hindu reported on April 30 that the students and parents have appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to allow them to return home. Mr. Tamilselvan said that the students and parents thanked Mr. Palaniswami and Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam, along with Mr. Kumar and Mr. Kasera for their efforts.