Bhubaneswar: The Russia-Ukraine conflict has catapulted into a global crisis whose ramifications are seen everywhere. India, being a part of this globalised society, is also witnessing major upheavals. The war has impacted thousands of Indian students who choose Ukraine as their destination for medical education. Like others, many Odia students also went to Ukraine to pursue their education in the numerous medical colleges there. While the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has brought their educational careers to a standstill, their lives also got entangled. For the more than five hundred Odia students staying in Ukraine, the war came as the biggest predicament of their lives. They were left lurching between the Russian bombardments and the closedown of communication facilities.
At this critical juncture, one person who took initiatives to help those Odia students is none other than Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Like a head of his 4.5 crore Odia family members, Naveen took the first initiative and held discussions with the Home Minister and the External Affairs Minister regarding safe evacuation of the Odia students. Naveen spoke to the Home Minister on 25th February and requested him to do the needful to safely evacuate all the Odia students from Ukraine. He also declared that all the expenses of bringing back the students will be borne by the state government. The Chef Minister entrusted the senior state government official Development Commissioner P K Jena to coordinate the overall issue of bringing back citizens on behalf of Odisha. The Government also ordered the Resident Commissioner to coordinate with the Government of India.
The State Government machinery acted very fast and took every step to help the students in Ukrainian cities including Kharkiv, Kyev and Sumy. The Government, as directed by the Chief Minister, set up a special cell in Delhi, and appointed a nodal officer for safe return of the citizens from Odisha. The special cell coordinated with the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation and other concerned agencies.
While the government officials were busy in the process of evacuating the Odia students, Naveen took regular updates on the developments going on. On 28th February, Naveen said that the Government is doing its best to evacuate each and every Odia person from Ukraine. When the first batch of the Odia students landed in New Delhi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik interacted with them and assured them that all the others struck in Ukraine will be brought back safely. The students in turn thanked the Chief Minister for the timely intervention and helping them come back from the war zone. The round the clock control room in Delhi opened by the Odisha Government was contacting all who were in distress, collecting their feedback and addressing their issues related to food and transportation.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik went a step ahead and ordered the Government to nominate special representatives with vast international experience who can help it in the evacuation process. The Odisha government nominated four special representatives to the countries like Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to coordinate with the Resident Commissioner, Odisha, and respective countries for smooth evacuation of Odias from Ukraine. The step worked wonders and helped the people stranded in Kharkov with all the required facilities. The Government representatives made arrangements for the evacuation of the Odia students from the war zones to the safe places and later to the bordering areas. Special buses were arranged by the Odisha Government to take the students out of Kharkov. The government also made arrangements for their fooding and stay at the border areas.
All these efforts of the Chief Minister were aimed at protecting the Odia students from the dangers of the war zone. He had assured the family members of the students to bring them back safely and he did exactly that. While more than 430 Odia students have returned to the country, some more will be brought back in the coming couple of days.
Like a father figure, Naveen went a few steps ahead in the safe return of the students. He ensured that they face no difficulty in returning to their state. It is not the only help that the Chief Minister has made. On a broader aspect, the Chief Minister has taken up the issue of the studies of the students with the Government of India.
Naveen has written a letter to the Prime Minister asking him that the Center intervene in the matter and help the students get back to their medical courses in India from the stage their education was disrupted due to the Ukraine war.
In his letter, Naveen said the disruption in their studies is likely to continue until the hostilities end and normalcy is restored in their universities in Ukraine. The “unprecedented crisis” has the potential of disrupting the careers of the students who have “already gone through the trauma of being in the war zone.” This statesmanlike approach by the Chief Minister has the potential to help the more than 17000 Medical Students save their careers and a large amount of money they have already spent.
When the lives of the students were in danger, Naveen came as a true guardian to them and ensured their safe return. He came as ray of hope for the Odias who were stranded in Kharkov and other areas without any other help. Like in many other occasions, this time also Naveen came as a savior for the hundreds of families who were waiting for their children to come back. What is of more interesting in all these efforts is the swiftness in which the decisions were taken and the quietness without any publicity and hype. He took the responsibility as the head of the family and the sole aim was to see the family member happy. There are very few examples in the history of the country where we can find such selfless leaders dedicatedly working for the welfare of the people. And that is the reason people of Odisha see him as the head of the family of 4.5 crore people. This shows why again and again the Chief Minister of Odisha is ranked at the top continuously in every survey. This makes him the people’s leader…the true guardian of the people of Odisha.