Tamil Nadu to bear cost of repatriation of 5000 students stranded in war-hit Ukraine

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday announced that the state government would bear the repatriation expenses of nearly 5000 students from the state, who are stuck in war-torn Ukraine. 

It may be noted that around 5,000 students from Tamil Nadu are pursuing professional courses in Ukraine. Of this, 916 students are said to have gotten in touch with the Tamil Nadu Government, as of Friday morning. 

The announcement regarding this comes a day after Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar for help. On Thursday evening, Stalin had sought help in urgently repatriating the students from Ukraine, adding that the state government had been receiving distress calls from the family members and parents of those stranded. 

Stalin added that the state government had opened a round-the-clock help desk and appointed a State Nodal Officer to coordinate with the Government of India, the families of the students and the respective district administration in Tamil Nadu. 

It was also requested that a nodal officer be nominated to coordinate with the Tamil Nadu Government, given the high number of students from the state.