Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab chief ministerial candidate and Member of Parliament Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday appealed to the Union government to bring back the students studying in Ukraine safely and for free.
Mann also demanded that strict action be taken against the multi-fold increase in air ticket prices by airlines. They were looting the people in crisis for which the government was responsible.
“Students studying in Ukraine are facing severe difficulties due to the unfavourable situation between Ukraine and Russia. Hundreds of students from all over India, including Punjab, went to study medicine in Ukraine. The Indian government has ordered the students to leave Ukraine and return, but has not made any arrangements to bring the students back home safely. No airline was given the responsibility, nor have plane ticket prices been fixed,” the AAP leader said in a statement.
Mann said the students and their parents had accused the Indian Embassy in Ukraine of not cooperating in any way, which is very unfortunate.
He said that the Indian Embassy in foreign countries is the biggest support for Indians, but the Indian government had already invited the Indian embassy staff and their relatives to India when hundreds of Indian students and other Indians were still seeking the help of the Embassy there.
Criticising the BJP-led government’s decision to privatise Air India, Mann said, “In this time of crisis, the people of India are paying the price for the sale of Air India. The country does not have any public-owned airline that can bring these children back to India safely.”
Mann said that private airlines have tripled their air-ticket prices. Earlier a ticket which was sold for only Rs 25,000, now the same ticket is available for Rs 75,000. At the same time, prices of food and other household goods are skyrocketing in Ukraine, causing economic hardship to the Indian people living there.
Mann said hundreds of students from different districts of Punjab were studying in Ukraine and their parents are worried about the safety of their children.
He appealed to the Union government and the Governor of Punjab to make arrangements for safe and free repatriation of students and travellers from Ukraine and to stop the financial exploitation of students by private airlines.