About 2,000 People from Haryana stuck in Ukraine

In Chandigarh a control room has been set up by the govt; says Haryana CM

On Thursday Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that nearly 2,000 people from Haryana, mostly students, were stuck in Ukraine and he was in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs on the issue.

Khattar then said the MEA had already set up a control room, while in Chandigarh, a control room has been set up by the state government where people from Haryana can contact on WhatsApp number 92123-14595. They can also reach Foreign Cooperation Department of Haryana government through email – mail us to: contactusatfcd@gmail.com.

Khattar, who was addressing a joint press conference with Home Minister Anil Vij, said that among the Indians who are stuck in Ukraine include nearly 2,000 from Haryana only.

"I am in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs," the CM said, replying to a question on the Ukraine situation and the number of those from Haryana stuck there.

To another question, he said that among the nearly 2,000 from Haryana who are stuck most are students and among them most are medical students.

India on Thursday mounted a major initiative to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine to neighbouring countries through land border crossings after Russia launched a large-scale military assault on the eastern European nation, triggering major global concerns and sanctions against Moscow by several Western powers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and "sensitised" him about India's concerns regarding the safety of the Indian citizens in Ukraine, especially the students.

As the situation in Ukraine worsens after the Russian attack, hundreds of stranded Indian students made desperate appeals to the government on Thursday to ensure their safe return.

Several videos emerged on social media in which teary-eyed students urged the Indian authorities to make arrangements for their return.

In the evening, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala shared on his Twitter handle a video by Ajay from Julana in Jind district, showing students from India including Haryana who had taken shelter at a metro rail station in Ukraine.

Udit, a resident of Karnal and a medicine student, who returned from Kyiv, told reporters in Karnal on Thursday that he reached home three days ago.

"The situation there has become dangerous. We request our Prime Minister that all Indians be safely evacuated," Udit said.

Himanshu Sharma, from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district, told reporters at Chandigarh upon his return from Ukraine via Delhi, that he was studying medicine at Chernivtsi, which is located near the Poland border.

"When we came (earlier this week) the situation was normal, but today we learnt that it has suddenly deteriorated," Sharma told reporters in Chandigarh on Thursday while traveling from Delhi to Himachal.

Khattar said he had received a letter from Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and some Haryana MLAs had also contacted him regarding the people of state who are stuck in Ukraine.

In his letter, Surjewala urged Khattar to request the prime minister to extend all facilities to the Indians who are stuck in Ukraine and make arrangements to bring the countrymen back home safely.

Surjewala had also urged Khattar to direct the Deputy Commissioners in the state to prepare a list of those who had gone to Ukraine from their districts after which the government should try to establish contact with them.

On Thursday, Meanwhile, some families from Ambala and Yamunanagar districts, whose children had gone to Ukraine for study purposes, met Haryana's Education Minister Kanwar Pal at his residence in Jagadhri town.

They appealed to him to urge the government to extend all possible help to the students who are stranded there for their early and safe return back home.