HYDERABAD: Even though they want to return from strife-torn Ukraine,
Indian students
are beset with problems like high price of flight tickets and non-availability of seats. With the Indian embassy in Kyiv advising the students to leave
Ukraine
in the wake of escalation of hostilities with Russia, the students are looking at an uncertain future.
“I am heading back to Hyderabad. I have got my ticket confirmed for February 27,”
Sohail Mohammed
, who is pursuing his medical course in Ukraine told TOI.
But not many are as lucky as Sohail. Several students complained about the high prices of flight tickets and wanted the embassy to intervene immediately to bring the prices down. The flight ticket rate is 60,000 and above. The Indian embassy on Tuesday issued an advisory. “Students are advised, in the interest of their safety, to leave Ukraine temporarily rather than wait for an official confirmation from the universities,” said the advisory.
Those who booked the air tickets in advance as soon as skirmishes began in east of Ukraine got them at a lesser price. A student said since he booked his ticket in advance and it cost 20,000. Abhishek Thakur said they could not afford such a high fare. “It is a huge sum for us to pay for one-way ticket. The amount is as much as one semester fee,” Thakur said. “I am thinking of coming back now. But flights are unavailable or full. I am trying to book my ticket to travel back to India,” another student
Jyoti Talwar
said. Jyoti had earlier decided to stay back as there was an important examination in July.
With the embassy having earlier indicated to students that if their presence in Ukraine was non-essential they must leave the country, some were able to return to India.
Anubhav Arya, studying in Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University in Ivano in northwest of Ukraine, said the Indian embassy should help them in getting air tickets at affordable rates. Dev Rana, another student, urged the embassy to insist on the government in Ukraine to ask universities to conduct online classes till the end of the ongoing semester. “Our university did not give us any updates and we are stuck,” he said.
Several Indian students in Ternopil State Medical University in the city of Ternopil have also asked the university to conduct online classes. The Indian embassy confirmed receiving a large number of calls asking about the confirmation of online classes by the medical universities. “The embassy is engaged with respective authorities for streamlining of the education process for Indian students,” it said.
Sushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyde...
Read MoreSushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyderabad. He began his journalism career at the age of 20 in 1988. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad from where he did his post-graduation from. He has been with The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition since its launch in 2000. He has also done an introductory course in film studies from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and also from the Central University of Kerala equipping himself with the knowledge of filmmaking for film criticism. He has authored four books. In his career spanning 34 years, he has worked for five newspapers and has also done television reporting. He was also a web journalist during internet’s infancy in the mid 1990s in India. He covers defence, politics, diaspora, innovation, administration, the film industry, Hyderabad city and Telangana state, and human interest stories. He is also a podcaster, blogger, does video reporting and makes documentaries.
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