JAIPUR: Deepak Rathore, a fourth-year medical student in Ukraine, is among thousands of Rajasthani students stuck in a war-like situation. Desperate to go home, but inflated airfare is preventing them from returning.
"I belong to Baran district, and my father is a farmer. Since the tension between Ukraine and Russia increased, we have been worried and not able to focus on studies. Although university administration has assured us for our safety, everyone in the campus talks about war. We want to go back but the flight rates are making it impossible," said Deepak.
According to students, around 1,000 students from Rajasthan are stuck in various medical colleges in Ukraine. Usually, a round trip to Ukraine used to cost around Rs 45,000 but as the tension between the two countries escalated many airlines have cancelled their flights on that route.
The remaining ones have hiked their prices making it Rs 90,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, for one-way trip to India.
Yogesh Chaudhary, another student from Bharatpur, said that although he is scared but university has decided to go full-time offline classes in two weeks.
"It will be a difficultly to come back after two weeks to attend classes. Despite that, three of my batchmates from Rajasthan are leaving in two days. They want to feel secure until things cool down here." Meanwhile, at home, parents are worried about the security of students as well. Suresh Vaishnav, from Jhallawar, whose son is studying in the Ukraine college said that he wants Indian government make arrangements for the students to get them out of that country.
Another parent, Ghanshyam Meena, said that it is not possible to spend such heavy flight fare. "We want our children to be secure and Indian government should think about their well-being. If the tension escalates, we might not have much time. It is stressful to think about it," said Meena.
As the media starts publishing stories of Ukraine and Russia tension, Charmesh Sharma, a Youth Congress member from Rajasthan sent a letter to president Ramnath Kovind, requesting some measures to be taken by the Indian government. "I have received calls from many parents who are worried about their wards safety. Until a few days back, there were just online classes but now universities across the Ukraine have announced to go offline that has made students worried about their academic losses. Indian government should take pro-active measure to get our citizens out of danger," said Sharma.
