Nearly 1,700 students return to Bengal from Kota

Pvt bus owners in Bengal divided over resuming services

Kolkata:

Nearly 1,700 students returned to West Bengal on Friday from Rajasthan’s Kota — the coaching hub for engineering and medical aspirants — and have been put up at different camps for health check-ups, an official said.

According to TMC leader and Asansol Mayor Jitendra Tiwari, the students, following their arrival in the town, were provided refreshments and taken to health camps, where they would have to undergo precautionary medical check-up.

“The buses carrying students (from Kota) are coming to Asansol. The students are then being taken to health camps for check-up. We have arranged for 135 buses, which would ferry the students to their respective homes, following completion of necessary formalities,” Tiwari told PTI over the phone.

At least 800 more would be returning to Bengal from Rajasthan by the end of the day, the TMC leader said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday had said that the process to bring back students stuck in Kota had been initiated and they would soon start journey back home.

Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said the state has undertaken a massive exercise to bring the students home.

“We have reached out to every student in need of help and solved their problems in real time. Our resolve has triumphed over West Bengal BJP’s sinister attempts at stoking controversy,” Chatterjee said.