India has taken up situation of return of Indian college students with China: Government

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The authorities on Thursday mentioned it has been taking on with the Chinese authorities the difficulty of the return of Indian college students to China to renew their research.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, replying to a query in Rajya Sabha, mentioned numerous Indian college students had come again to India when all universities in China had closed down following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He mentioned China had restricted journey by suspending visa and residence permits from March 27, 2020, in view of the pandemic.

“As per information available, approximately 20,000 Indian students were enrolled in various courses including clinical medicine courses in different Chinese universities at that time,” he mentioned.

“A large number of them returned to India when all universities in China had closed down,” he added.

Muraleedharan mentioned the schools in China haven’t reopened totally as on date. “The government has been taking up the matter of the return of Indian students with the Chinese authorities both in New Delhi and through our Embassy in China. Regular updates have been given in this regard by the Embassy to the Indian students,” Muraleedharan mentioned.

He mentioned the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had taken up the matter with the National Medical Commission and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to discover choices to deal with the issues of the affected college students.

The minister mentioned the fee has issued a round on March 4 stating that in view of numerous Indian medical college students in overseas establishments who haven’t been capable of full internships, it has determined to simply accept functions from such overseas medical graduates to finish the remaining a part of an internship in India.

Muraleedharan mentioned the Chinese authorities has suggested Chinese universities to take care of contact with overseas college students and proceed courses on-line.

To a separate query, he mentioned the MEA has acquired and addressed” a complete of 4957 NRI marital complaints from Indian brides and grooms during the last 5 years.

The minister mentioned a complete quantity of Rs 64 lakhs has been spent for offering authorized and monetary help to Indian girls abandoned by their abroad Indian/overseas husbands underneath the Indian Community Welfare Fund from 2017 to 2021.

Muraleedharan mentioned 231 passports of the NRIs, implicated within the disputes, have been revoked/cancelled over the past 5 years.