Mumbai, April 24 More than 50,000 Indian students are stranded abroad in different countries and are facing immense difficulties during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, senior Congress leader and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Friday.
Of these, around 6,000-7000 are from Maharashtra alone who are stuck in various nations which, like India, are under lockdown with no flights operating.
In a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Chavan urged the state government to make efforts to bring them back to India.
Indian students are stuck in the US, UK, European and Central eastern countries and Russia and have been regularly demanding help via social media to return to India.
Some have uploaded videos of their plight in various countries, cramped accommodation, shortages of essentials and severe weather conditions which make their survival difficult in the Covid-19 pandemic.
"They are encountering difficulties in lodging, boarding, finances and food, etc. Around another 2,000 students from the state are stranded in Kota, Rajasthan who also need to be brought back," Chavan said.
He pointed out that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath) had organised 250 buses and brought back over 7,500 people to their home-state.
( With inputs from IANS )