2,400 students stuck at LPU want to go home
A varsity student had tested positive on Saturday; over 300 stuck at the varsity are from Afghanistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Ghana Zambia and seek evacuation
Over 2,400 students of Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara, and CT Group of Institutions, are in a state of panic and want to go home. On Saturday, an LPU student had tested positive for covid-19.
Classes have been suspended at both the institutes till May 1 and students are stranded at hostels, paying guest accommodations and private rented flats. Over 300 of these are international students; CT Group of Institutions has 100-odd international students in Ludhiana and Jalandhar combined.
A health department official, involved in screening of students since Saturday, said students were panicking and were jittery in coming forward for the screening process. Incidentally, the patient is stable, and is being treated at the isolation ward of the Kapurthala civil hospital.
At the LPU, stranded students remain from Mumbai, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and some other cities of South India. Internationally, most students still on campus or the city are Afghanistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Ghana and Zambia.
LPU additional director Aman Mittal said, “The university has approached these countries, requesting for evacuation of their citizens.” A student Sulaiman Ahmad from Afghanistan said, “I am worried and have requested my own government and Indian authorities to send me home.” Suresh Kumar from Telangana, who stays in a rented accommodation, with others from his state, said, “We feel trapped. Our families are also worried.”
259 LPU BHUTANESE STUDENTS GO BACK IN TWO CHARTED FLIGHTS
Since March 28, LPU had coordinated with the Bhutan government and Bhutanese Embassy in India to fly 259 of its students, in addition to some dependents, in two special chartered flights. A batch of 138 Bhutanese students and 2 dependents were sent from Chandigarh Airport on March 28, after necessary health screening. On Monday, 121 LPU Bhutanese students and three dependents too the plane from Amritsar airport on Monday. During the complete process, social distancing was maintained, said LPU’s Mittal.