Jaipur: As the country reels under the hastily-implemented lockdown, CPI head Sitaram Yechury has criticized the BJP for arranging transportation for students from the coaching hub for competitive examinations that is Kota, Rajasthan while remaining indifferent to the plight of migrant workers. Yechury took to twitter to pan the ruling party’s preference towards more fortunate students and their apathy towards the poor. He compared this move to the ruling party’s practice of bailing out rich borrowers who defaulted on loans at the cost of the poor.
The UP government claims it sent 300 buses, including 200 from Agra, to bring back students stranded in Kota. An Agra-based government official said that 200 buses were sent from the district while another 100 were dispatched from Jhansi in Bundelkhand. This move came about as a result of a twitter campaign started by stranded students, of whom there were estimated to be 7,500 from UP, with the trending hashtag #sendusbackhome.
Besides Yechury, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also lambasted the move deeming it an “injustice against the principle of lockdown.” The district administration adequately sanitized the buses and screened the students who resided in hostels and paying guest accommodations before leaving Kota.
Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav also welcomed the move but not without bringing up the condition of migrant workers for whom no such transportation is arranged.