Congress Lok Sabha Chief Whip, Kodikunnil Suresh, on March 14, said in the Parliament that the government must waive off education loans taken by students pursuing education in Ukraine by invoking the clause of 'act of war' to save them from falling into a debt trap.
Students rescued from Ukraine face an uncertain future due to their inability to complete their education and also run the risk of falling into a debt trap as they may find it difficult to repay education loans, he said. He also demanded that the government extend specialised help to students to overcome the mental trauma faced in the war zone.
Suresh further said that the government should set up a student welfare wing in every embassy as a policy intervention to help students abroad in times of crisis. Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, another Congress member Rajmohan Unnithan (Kasaragod, Kerala) claimed that thousands of students from his state were still stranded in Sumy, Ukraine and demanded that the government take urgent steps to bring them to safety.
Attacking the government, Congress member Abdul Khaleque said that authorities should have taken steps earlier to evacuate students from Ukraine and not have waited until hostilities broke out. "Indian students had to reach countries neighbouring Ukraine on their own. In reality, this cannot be termed as evacuation as is being claimed by the government," Khaleque, a member from Barpeta in Assam, said.
