Help for students from Ukraine, Rs 10 crore earmarked in budget

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There is a relief for students, who have returned following Russia-Ukraine war, in the state budget presented here Friday. Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned to NORKA department for setting up a database for the Malayalees studying abroad and enabling students who returned home as part of the conflict to enable them to continue their studies and those who had lost their certificates and documents.

Many students reached the state recently after leaving their valuable things including certificates from the war land. The government made the announcement of relief when they were deeply concerned about their further studies.

The Malayalees had returned the other day from Ukraine via Operation Ganga, the rescue mission. Most of them were trapped in Sumy where a fierce fighting was witnessed. Yesterday alone, a group of 694 students, including Malayalees, arrived in the country. With this, Operation Ganga has come to a happy end.

The students, who arrived at the Poland border on a special train from Lviv, returned to India from the Romanian capital Bucharest last evening. They reached India early morning. The group also includes citizens of Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Tunisia. They were escorted by Indian Embassy and Red Cross vehicles in 12 buses to Poltava in 10 hours. From there they were brought to Lviv. The students had to stay in Sumy for about two weeks during the Russian invasion.

The central government started Operation Ganga 12 days ago to rescue Indian students stranded in Ukraine. 17,000 people were rescued by the mission.