"90% of them won’t clear entrance examinations," Minister's remark sparks row

Pralhad Joshi made the controversial comment in Belagavi on Monday, while briefing the media on the steps taken to evacuate students stranded.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi said that 90% of students going abroad to study medicine won’t clear Indian entrance examinations, raking up controversy on Tuesday with Opposition leaders condemning his statement at a time thousands of Indian students are stuck in war-torn Ukraine.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi raked up controversy on Tuesday with Opposition leaders condemning his statement at a time thousands of Indian students are stuck in war-torn Ukraine (PTI)

Joshi made the controversial comment in Belagavi on Monday, while briefing the media on the steps taken to evacuate students stranded in Ukraine. Answering a question on why so many students from Karnataka are studying abroad and whether the high course fee in the state is the reason for the migration of students, he said: “Those (students) who have returned (from Ukraine), 90% of them won’t clear the entrance examinations. I’m not telling you this… I don’t want to create a controversy over it or start a debate. So, all I want to say is that they have gone, may they be well.”

The minister’s statement led to outrage on social media, particularly after a student from Karnataka’s Haveri died as Russian forces pummelled Kharkiv on Tuesday. The student, Naveen Shekharappa Gyandagoudar, was a 21-year-old final-year student at Kharkiv National Medical University.

The Congress said the minister insulted the students. “This is the tragedy where - BJP government has no evacuation plan; Modi government has abandoned our young; Prahlad Joshi decries and insults our students in Ukraine; Only photo ops, no action,” Randeep Surjewala tweeted.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Monday urged people to not politicise the evacuation process from Ukraine. In a series of tweets, he said: “... Scoring points at this hour of crisis will make us look bad. I have been watching videos of our young citizens stranded in Ukraine making fervent pleas for evacuation. It is heart-wrenching to see their plight.”

A BJP spokesperson Ganesh Karnik said that the Minister has been quoted out of context and the controversy was unneeded. “The minister was answering a question on why so many students are going abroad for studies. He even told the media that it was not the time to discuss such a matter. The government is doing everything to bring back the stranded students and this is not the time for such a controversy,” he said.

At least 693 students from Karnataka, including 256 from Bengaluru, have been found to be stuck in Ukraine. Till now, 64 of them have been rescued.

As per the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre, several students from other districts were also in the country, which has come under attack from Russia. Mysuru (28), Bagalkot (20) and 18 each from Vijayapura, Dakshina Kannada and Bengaluru Rural districts, Tumakur (17), Raichur (15), Hassan (13), 12 each from Kodagu and Belagavi, Haveri (10), 9 each from Kolar and Davangere, 8 each from Chikkaballapur and Chikkamaglur, Udupi (7), 5 each from Bidar and Ballari, Chitradurga (5), 4 each from Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Dharwad and Chamarajanagar, 3 each from Mandya and Koppal, 2 each from Ramanagar and Uttara Kannada and Gadag are among the stranded.