BHOPAL: File a report at 'Ukraine police station'... This was the advice from the CM helpline to the mother of a student in Ukraine, looking for help to bring her daughter home amid escalating tension in the East European country.
The family lives in MP's Vidisha, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's home turf. Vaishali Wilson, a lab technician, says she didn't get any help from the CMO or ministry of external affairs to get her daughter Sristhi Sherry Wilson home. The PMO learnt of their plight and intervened.
Sristhi is pursuing a medical degree in Kyiv and is in her fifth year. Her parents back home began panicking when Russia ordered troops into Ukraine.
'Today I got a call from the PMO, we are a bit relaxed'
I was worried. There were no tickets. The ones available are so expensive, we can't afford (them). I called up the CM and helpline number on MEA's site, but the response was not satisfactory," said Vaishali.
The operator who took her call asked her to "approach Ukraine police station since it was a matter of that country", she said. "The person at the CM helpline asked me to file a complaint with Ukraine police station. If it's a problem in MP, we'll solve it, but if it's a problem in Ukraine, file a report in the thana, I was told. That left me more worried," she told mediapersons."If I had got a satisfactory response, I'd have been relieved but the person operating the helpline had no clue about anything, didn't even know that war has broken out in Ukraine.
There's no point talking about sensitivity when they don't understand the gravity of the issue," she told mediapersons. After news of her experience got out, however, she received a call from the PMO. "Today I got a call from the PMO that they will arrange for her return flight on the 27th. Now we are a bit relaxed," she told TOI on phone. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine has asked Indian students to return home rather than wait for confirmation of online classes by universities.
The exact number of students from MP living in Ukraine is not immediately known, but officials believe it's more than 200.
