Not possible to evacuate Indians from Bangladesh due to lockdown, govt tells Delhi HC

The central government on Friday informed Delhi High Court that in view of the nationwide lockdown, it was not possible to organise the evacuation of Indian nationals from Bangladesh or any other country, reports legal news website BarandBench.com.

However, all possible help and assistance is being provided to all Indian nationals, the Centre told a Division Bench of Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Navin Chawla.

The Bench was hearing a PIL filed by advocate Gaurav Bansal, seeking the evacuation of Indian citizens, particularly students, from Bangladesh. Bansal had asserted that due to the lockdown, the students were stuck in their university campus in Bangladesh, without masks and sanitizers etc.

On the last day of hearing, Centre had informed that it had appointed Nodal Officers to help Indian citizens stuck in Bangladesh in the wake of the global COVID-19 outbreak.

Apprising the court of further developments, the central government stated that a high-level Group of Ministers was reviewing the current status as well as actions for prevention and management of COVID-19.

Additionally, a ‘COVID-19 Cell’ had been formed to ensure greater access and precision of information, along with the creation of sub-groups to specifically deal with different regions of the world, the Centre said.

The central government further stated that the missions/posts abroad had been advised to set up dedicated helpline numbers to assist stranded Indians.

With respect to students stranded in Bangladesh, the Centre informed that the Ambassadors were interacting with the Indian community through virtual platforms for their engagement in the time of crisis and wherever possible, the missions are providing food, accommodation etc to stranded Indian citizens.

Timely information regarding various travel advisories are also being issued to the students community through social platforms on daily basis, it was added.

Centre further claimed that the colleges in Bangladesh were trying to provide basic facilities to all the students; however, when any Indian student reached out to the High Commission, they were counselled and provided necessary help.

In view of the Centre's assurance that at all possible help and assistance shall be provided to all Indian citizens and particularly Indian students in Bangladesh to ensure their well being, the court opined that there was no further need to issue directions in the petition. The petition was accordingly disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to approach the Court again in case the need so arises in the future.