Covid-19: Opposition urges govt to airlift Indian students stranded abroad

New Delhi [India], March 19 (ANI): Members in Lok Sabha on Thursday expressed concerns over problems being faced by Indian students stuck at airports abroad due to coronavirus threat, and said the government should take immediate steps to bring them back.
Members cutting across party lines raised the issue and said students were stuck at several places including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila.
Shiv Sena member Vinayak Bhaurao Raut said that 58 students from different parts of the country were stranded in Singapore for three days and 25 of them were women.
He said the students were facing problems and they should not be sent back to Malaysia but brought to India.
Another Shiv Sena lawmaker Rajan Baburao Vichare also raised the issue concerning students stuck in Singapore. "I request the minister to bring them to Mumbai," he said.
Congress member Dean Kuriakose said several people from his constituency were stuck at different airports including in Italy and the Philippines.
He demanded that chartered flights should be arranged to bring them back.
"What kind of measures (are being taken)," said Margani Bharat of the YSRCP while the issue of Indians stuck in Manila.
He said all the students stuck abroad should be brought back and quarantined.
Samajwadi Party member ST Hasan raised the problems of Indian students stuck in Kuala Lampur and said their luggage had been loaded in the plane but they were told at last moment that the flight cannot go due to restrictions placed by India.
He said it was a curfew-like situation and the students were also facing difficulty in getting food.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said many Indians were stuck at airports abroad due to threats about the spread of coronavirus.
Asit Kumar Mal of Trinamool Congress said there should be more quarantine centers.
BJP member from Darjeeling Raju Bista expressed concerns that people from the northeast had faced racial comments in some parts of the country in the wake of coronavirus spread.
He said a large section of people were dependent on tourism in his constituency and demanded a special package in the wake of the impact of coronavirus on the sector.
A few members also demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaker Om Birla said that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has given a detailed statement on the issue. (ANI)