Nearly 3,400 students of WestBengal returned to the state from the coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan and have been sent home after health check-ups, an official said on Saturday.Buses carrying the students start reaching Asansol in Paschim Barddhaman district from Friday after completing more than 1,500 km journey from Kota in the west of India during the nationwide lockdown."Since Friday, a total of 3,400 students and a few families have arrived in Asansol. We have arranged for hundreds of buses," Asansol Mayor Jitendra Tiwari said.They were first provided with refreshments, and then taken to health camps for medical check-ups. Thereafter they resumed the journey for their home town following completion of formalities, he told PTI over phone."We are thankful to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for bringing us back home safely. We were really scared when we got stranded in Kota," a student said after returning to her hometown in Malda.Kota is a coaching hub where medical and engineering aspirants from different parts of the country go every year in large numbers to prepare for competitive exams.The Bankura district authorities have directed the students returning from Kota to stay in home quarantine for 14 days.Of the 64 students who returned to Bankura, the health department collected samples from 44 for Covid-19 testing.Education Minister Partha Chatterjee had said on Friday that the state government has undertaken a massive exercise to bring the students back home.
