BJP MLA says more students can be brought in place of Karnataka boy's body in Ukraine

The family has not gotten any information on the retrieval of the body yet

Hubballi-Dharwad West MLA Arvind Bellad on Thursday said that the government’s focus is more on getting back the stranded students in war-torn Ukraine alive than bringing the mortal remains of Naveen Gyangoudar, who was killed in the war.

Speaking to a section of media in Dharwad, Bellad said that 'Operation Ganga' has been launched to rescue the Indian students struck in Ukraine.

“A coffin would occupy the seats of 8 to 10 students in the plane. Therefore, the priority is on evacuating the medical students stranded in the war-hit nation and bring them back alive," he added.

Bellad further said that the MEA is constantly monitoring the evacuation operation in Ukraine and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the safe evacuation of Indian students.

Read more: Ukrainian woman told us our son is no more: Naveen's mother

Going by the terrifying bombing incidents in Ukraine, getting back the stranded students has become a major challenge and getting the body of Naveen to India would be a difficult task and it could be delayed, said Bellad.

In spite of the difficulties, Modi himself is taking special care in trying to bring back the mortal remains of MBBS student Naveen of Haveri, he said.

India has made food and accommodation facility in Romania and Poland but the major challenge is to cross the Ukraine border and reach Romania. Very soon, all those reaching Romania would be brought back and the parents need not worry, assured Bellad.

The MLA further alleged that the Medical Council of India (MCI) is a private entity and it has been creating artificial scarcity of MBBS seats which has led to an escalation of the cost of medical education. Common people cannot afford to pay such huge fees and therefore, are migrating to other countries like Ukraine wherein medical education can be had at affordable cost, he said.

"Large scale corruption is going on in the MCI and the government has to come up with measures to root out corruption and make medical education affordable," he stressed.

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