Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to extend the nationwide lockdown till 3 May, thousands of students who are living in hostels in the coaching hub of Rajasthan, Kota, posted tweets asking the PM and several other chief ministers to send them back home.
These students have been living in hostels where basic amenities like food, milk, water and electricity are available.
Kota district magistrate has assured parents and students that if there are complaints against the hostels, strict action will be taken against the hostel owners.
A Twitter user by the name of Vaibhav Rathore reached out to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot while pointing out that the former’s hostel owner had been asking for rent at a time when the family had lost all sources of income due to the ongoing lockdown.
DM Says, ‘Must Stay Indoors’
A day before the lockdown was extended, 14 April, the Kota administration had cancelled special permits that were earlier issued to students wanting to go back to their home states. This decision was made after the Bihar government raised objections over the movement of students from Kota to the state. A lot of the students in Kota are from Bihar.
The Kota DM insisted that it is important no one travels during the lockdown. While Kota District has reported 84 positive cases of coronavirus at 9:00 am on 16 April, the tally for Rajasthan now stands at 1,101.
Speaking to the parents of the students through media he said, "Your child is in Kota and he is completely safe. If on the way, he stops to have tea or eat etc, then it is possible to become vulnerable to contracting COVID-19."
He also added that in a meeting with the hostel owners of Kota, the DM told them that, "The students who are studying in your hostel, should have no issue whatsoever. If the students raise complaints, then I will initiate action against the owners of the hostel".
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