UP govt clears Rs 36 lakh bill sent by Rajasthan govt for return of students from Kota

A day after the Congress-led Rajasthan government sent a bill of over Rs 36 lakh for facilitating the return of stranded students of Uttar Pradesh from Kota, the Yogi Adityanath government cleared the dues on Friday, an official said. Amid the controversy over Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi's offer to provide 1,000 buses to ferry migrant labourers in Uttar Pradesh, the Rajasthan government had on Thursday sent a bill of Rs 36.36 lakh for sending Kota students back home in Uttar Pradesh amid the lockdown.

"In mid-April, the Uttar Pradesh government had decided to bring students of UP stranded in Kota due to lockdown back home. Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses were deployed for bringing them back, but the number of students there was more than our estimate and we needed additional buses," UPSRTC Managing Director Raj Shekhar said. "The buses of Rajasthan Roadways available in Kota were used for ferrying students till Agra and Mathura.''

The bill for the same was raised by the Rajasthan Roadways which has been cleared by the UPSRTC he said. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's media advisor Mritunjay Kumar had strongly condemned the demand of Rs 36 lakh, saying it only showed the "inhuman face" of the Rajasthan government. In April, thousands of students from Uttar Pradesh who were preparing for various competitive examinations in the coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan were brought back to their homes in buses.