Noida admin begins collating info to send stranded students home

The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration has begun the process of identifying students who are stranded here due to the lockdown and want to go back to their homes within Uttar Pradesh and in Bihar, officials said on Friday.

The administration has issued a web link -- https://t.co/InTwcSx65v?amp=1 -- where students can register themselves by sharing their basic details and contact numbers after which government officials will get in touch with them, they said.

"Dear students, on the instructions of the state government, the following link has been created to send all stranded students home. Students are requested to fill the complete details by clicking the link https://t.co/InTwcSx65v?amp=1 You will be contacted soon via email/sms," District Magistrate Suhas L Y tweeted.

Considered an education hub, Gautam Buddh Nagar in western UP has around eight universities with more than 50,000 students and multiple engineering colleges among others, the officials said, adding that several of these students are non-locals.

The development comes even as two days are remaining for the lockdown, which came into force on March 25 on a decision by the Centre to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Thursday issued directives that a list of students from UP be prepared who want to return to their homes.

He had sought a list of students from Noida, Ghaziabad and Aligarh, besides those from Delhi. He has asked his officials to establish a communication with the Delhi government to ensure the stranded students return to their homes in UP, according to tweets shared by the Chief Minister's Office on Thursday.