The Karnataka Government has appointed a nodal officer to facilitate evacuation and smooth movement of people from the State stranded in the trouble-hit Ukraine to their respective places.
Dr. Manoj Rajan, senior IFS officer and Commissioner for Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority, is the nodal officer, who will be coordinating with Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Embassy in Kyiv and provide all necessary support for evacuation of Indians stranded in Ukraine.
The nodal officer will also oversee functioning of 24/7 helpline 080-1070; 080-22340676 in the State Emergency Operation Center. His email ID is manoarya@gmail.com; revenuedmkar@gmail.com
An official release said that the Chief Minister’s Office and the chief secretary were in constant touch with the ministry of external affairs and Indian Embassy, Kyiv to reach out to the stranded people and provide all possible assistance to “the best of our ability”.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said about 100 Indian students, who were on their way to the airport in two buses, are stranded in Ukraine. Nearly 10 of them were from Karnataka, he said.
Replying to a query on why these students did not return with 200 other students who returned to India from Ukraine last week when there were early signs of war, Mr. Bommai explained that Indian students were returning in batches from Ukraine, and those presently stranded in Ukraine belonged to the last batch of returnees.