Over 100 students stuck in hostels at Jamia Millia Islamia leave for Bihar in special buses

Over 100 students hailing from Bihar, who were stuck in hostels at Jamia Millia Islamia due to the lockdown in view of COVID-19, left for their hometown in five special buses arranged by the varsity on Thursday, officials said.

Buses left for Katihar, Purnea, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda and Bhagalpur districts of Bihar, carrying around 130 students with a student group leader in each of the bus to coordinate during the journey, the varsity said.

Three students of West Bengal are also travelling in one of the bus going to Katihar. Two university guards (ex-army personnel) also accompanied the students in each bus, it added.

Information about travel detail of concerned students have also been conveyed to Bihar government and local administration of all 30 districts of the state by the Chief Proctor of the university, the varsity said.

The university is closed in view of the lockdown and on the request of students the university coordinated with officials of Bihar and Delhi governments and sought permission for their travel in special buses arranged by the university, the varsity said.

Buses first left for Delhi government's health centre for screening of students for fever and other symptoms related to coronavirus and to complete other formalities. Buses were properly sanitised before leaving the campus, it said.

Online teaching and evaluation is going on in the university as it is closed due to lockdown to prevent spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

The university will now reopen in August for regular students if the situation normalises. Earlier, the varsity had for buses for students to travel to Jammu and Kashmir while they had also arranged buses to drop students at railway station to board trains to Jharkhand.