KOLKATA: The first bus carrying 30 students, who were stranded due to the nationwide lockdown in Rajasthans Kota, arrived in West Bengal on Friday morning, the police said.
The bus carrying 30 students along with two parents came to Asansol in Burdwan district, crossing over the West Bengal-Jharkhand border.
Earlier on April 27, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had taken personal initiative to bring back over 2,500 students from Kota and assured them in a social media post that that they would be returning to their homes soon.
Sources said the students will come to their home state in 95 different buses.
"We have made arrangements for their refreshments at the Banspota area on Durgapur Expressway, as they are travelling from a distance. There are arrangements for thorough medical check-ups of the home-bound students as well by the state health department at the checkpoint," an official said.
The buses will travel to three different zones in the state -- Kolkata, Siliguri and Asansol. All the students will go through health check-ups before and after boarding the buses.
"We are really happy to be back after so many days of lockdown. We were in real trouble there. We must thank our state government for taking such an initiative," said Rajiunnisa, a student from Murshidabad, who got stuck in Kota due to the shutdown.
Meanwhile, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government has also started the process of transporting migrant labourers of Bengal, who have been stranded in different districts within the state.