"One Nation, 2 Rules": Jharkhand Chief Minister Dials PM Over Kota Students' Return

The prospective return of hundreds of students from Rajasthan's Kota to their home states has irked Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who conveyed his strong objections to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. The Chief Minister dialed the Prime Minister this morning, and complained about what he called "one nation, two sets of rules", indicating the Centre's efforts to enforce the lockdown in some states.

With clearance from the Centre, five states have been making arrangements to get their children back from Kota, the popular destination of students aspiring to take the civil services and the other competitive exams. But the lockdown has left them stranded and over the weeks, their desperation has been growing.

Uttar Pradesh has already sent buses to fetch its students. Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Assam are also ready to take their students back, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Monday.

Talking to newsmen, Mr Soren later said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's move to send buses has raised demands for a similar gesture in Jharkhand. "We are getting frantic calls from parents, who are asking why we are not making similar arrangements," the Chief Minister told reporters.

Mr Soren and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar have argued that allowing hundreds of students to return to their home states fro Kota will defeat the lockdown, meant to stop coronavirus.

Mr Kumar, a BJP ally, has argued that he cannot favour students from Kota as it would amount to discrimination against Bihar students living in other parts of the country.

"The way special buses are being sent to ferry students from Kota, it is injustice with the principle of the lockdown," the Bihar Chief Minister told NDTV. He also pointed out that by the same logic, migrant labourers stuck in states far from their villages should also be allowed to travel home.

A senior Janata Dal united leader said: "We can't understand what kind of lock down is this. On the one hand, you are issuing advisory and sending teams from Delhi to states like Bengal to enforce lockdown against their wishes. On the other hand, your own state governments are sending buses to bring back the students from Kota, which is making mockery of the lockdown".

On April 13, the Bihar Chief Secretary had written to the Centre, asking it to issue "necessary instructions to the government of Rajasthan to enforce the lockdown".

"Earlier we had to tackle the unprecedented influx of returning migrant workers because of poor implementation (of the lockdown) by other states," the letter read.

Bihar has been among of the states which have successfully implemented the lockdown and considerably slowed the progression of the highly contagious virus. The home ministry on Monday said the doubling rate of the virus in Bihar is 16.4 days, way ahead of the national average of 7.5 days.