The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The Education Minister Lyonpo Norbu Wangchuk said that given the ongoing strike in Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong and also its effect on Sikkim the government was evacuating students and monks from the hills.
The minister said that the excellent ties between the two countries also local authorities at the state and district level were helping to evacuate Bhutanese students from the hills.
Lyonpo said that the Phuentsholing SP is in touch with his counterparts in Darjeeling and Kalimpong whom he knows well due to good relations and their interactions.
He said the PM himself as in the case of natural disasters and such situations has been personally monitoring and overseeing the situation. There was a phone hotline with students groups and also a WhatsApp group among the concerned ministers and secretaries in the Home, Education and Foreign ministries to coordinate information and action.
As of Friday the Phuentsholing SP and an official of the Department of Law and Order went and got back 31 students from St Josephs School. An OC and administration officer went to Kalimpong to get 63 Bhutanese monks there. Similarly two buses are being arranged on 25th June to get Bhutanese with a security escort from Sikkim whose sole highway is also affected by the strike.
Earlier 64 college students were escorted safely to Phuentsholing in buses by Bhutanese authorities coordinating the local officials and police in the hills.
There is concern that there could be more Bhutanese in other less known institutes too.
The PM said that other evacuations will also be done for Bhutanese students and monks in the hills.
