Tadepalli: Medicos stranded in Kyrgyzstan plead for help

Tadepalli: About 300 Medicos studying in Kyrgyzstan appealed to the AP Non-Resident Telugus Society to help them in coming back to India.

Reacting to the appeal Venkat S Medapati, president of the APNRTS, wrote to the Embassy of India in Kyrgyzstan on May 29 and again on June 3 to bring back the stranded students in flights under Vande Bharath.

In fact, more than 1,200 medical students from the State and Telangana State are stranded and still waiting to come back to India under Vande Bharath from Kyrgyzstan in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of whom, around 300 students from the State, who have completed the medical course, are to attend the Medical Council of India clearance examination in August.

In the Vande Bharath phase 3, there is only one flight to Visakhapatnam on June 18 and one on June 28 to Hyderabad with a capacity of 150 each which is not at all sufficient to accommodate the stranded students.

However, some private operators who are ready to operate chartered flights to the State for which APNRTS is ready to facilitate the process for obtaining necessary permissions required from the State government for chartered flights to land either at Vijayawada or at Visakhapatnam.

Venkat requested the Embassy and MEA on behalf of State government to operate more flights under Vande Bharath to the State or facilitate chartered flights along with MEA and MoCA directly to the State from Kyrgyzstan for repatriating the stranded students on compassionate grounds. Details of students from the State available with APNRTS have been shared with the Embassy.

The MEA assured the students that there will be more flights under Vande Bharath. Also, the Embassy is looking at all the possibilities to arrange for direct chartered flights to the State.