Parents of young engineers from north coastal Andhra, who are stranded in Wuhan City in China, post the outbreak of a novel coronavirus, are a worried lot. They met here on Thursday to discuss the course of action.
About 35 students who had passed out last year from various colleges in and around Visakhapatnam district were selected by Panel Opto-Display Technolgy Private Limited (POTPL) in a campus drive. In August 2019, POTPL company had sent about 96 engineers from A.P. to its parent company China Star Opto-Electronics Technology (CSOT) in Wuhan City, for training.
After three months, 38 engineers were sent back, and the rest were asked to stay for another three months. Of the 58 stranded engineers, about 35 hail from north coastal Andhra, and the rest are from Tirupati, Kurnool and other areas.
The parents recently met Visakhapatnam MP MVV Satyanarayana who in turn made a representation to Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on January 28.
The MP told The Hindu said the company was ready to send the engineers back, but due to the lockdown, they are stranded.
Plea to top leaders
Visakhapatnam resident AVL Rao, parent of Atluri Rama Rajanya, said they had also mailed representations to Vice-President, M. Venkaiah Naidu, former Visakhapatnam MP K. Hari Babu, YSRC MP Vijaya Sai Reddy, and Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. “We have learnt that the Indian government is planning to evacuate about 300 Indian students from Wuhan University, for which negotiations are going on with China. A flight is going to be sent from Mumbai for the purpose and we are requesting the officials to accommodate our children on it,” Mr. Rao said.
The parents said their children have been communicating with them on a daily basis. The company has shifted them to a safe place and is providing all facilitiesRegular check-ups are being conducted to monitor their health.
“They are all set to return next month. We hope the public representatives will highlight the issue in the Parliament and facilitate our children’s safe return,” he said.
