There was no delay in starting the evacuation of Indians from Ukraine: Minister

He said that India started the evacuation of its citizens from Ukraine on the same day the war started and this would not have been possible had there been no preparations beforehand.

“On the morning of February 24 the conflict started and the air travel was ceased. On that same evening, India announced its evacuation plan from the road. This wouldn’t have been possible had there been no preparation before that day,” said Muraleedharan.

He said, Government is making all efforts to bring back all Indians safe, and these efforts are monitored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The parents also appreciated the efforts of the government in rescuing Indians.

He said there were around 20,000 citizens who were stranded in Ukraine. “4000 Indians had left for India before February 24, and additional 2,000 students were brought back to India till Tuesday and efforts are on to evacuate the remaining Indians stuck there. Since the number of stranded persons is big, Indian Air Force aircraft are being used to bring them back to India, with the help of Ukraine’s neighbouring countries Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, he added.

He said that the embassies of Russia and Ukraine, as well as the Indian embassies in the two countries, are in touch to repatriate Indian nationals safely from Kharkiv and other war-torn cities in Ukraine. The Ministry of External Affairs clarified that since February 24, the countries have been repeatedly asked to allow Indians to leave the war-torn areas safely.

Union Minister Hardeep Puri has been sent to Hungary, Jyotiraditya Shinde to Romania, Kiren Rijiju to Slovakia and General VK Singh to Poland to coordinate the safe repatriation of Indians under Operation Ganga, he said.

Later the union Muraleedharan chaired a District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (Disha) meeting. In the meeting Union Minister reviewed the work status of 54 central sponsored schemes viz Pune Metro, Bharatmala, Pradhan Mantri Anna Suraksha Yojana, Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, Amrit Yojana, River Improvement Project, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Grameen Abhiyan, Bharat Net, Jaljivan Mission, Rashtriya Gram Swarajya Abhiyan, Integrated Energy Development Scheme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Beti Badhao Beti Padao, Deendayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushalya Vikas Yojana, Mudra Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jandhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Peek Vima Yojana, Krishi Sinchan Yojana, Sarva Shikshan Abhiyan, Rashtriya Harit Bharat Abhiyan.

Member of Parliament Shri Shrirang Barne along with Prakash Javadekar, Girish Bapat and Smt. Supriya Sule who joined virtually attended the meeting. Local Member of Legislatives, Mayor and Zilla Parishad Members and Government officials were present for the meeting.