The father of Naveen Shekharappa, an Indian student who was killed in conflict-torn Ukraine on Tuesday expressed his anguish over the medical education system in India.
Naveen Shekharappa hailed from Chalageri village of Haveri district in Karnataka. “Despite scoring 97 per cent in pre-University course (PUC), my son could not secure a medical seat in the State. To get a medical seat one has to give crores of rupees and students are getting the same education abroad spending less money,” Shekharappa’s father told mediapersons.
Naveen Shekharappa, a 21-year-old student studying at Kharkiv National Medical University, Ukraine died in shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday.
Shekharappa was reportedly standing in a queue to buy food when he was killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s Kharkiv.
“With profound sorrow, we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family,” tweeted the External Affairs Ministry. Efforts are now on to bring his mortal remains to India.
News of the student’s death came within an hour of the Indian embassy in Ukraine asking its citizens to urgently leave the capital Kyiv on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences over the demise of the Indian student in Ukraine. He spoke to Naveen Shekharappa’s father. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also spoke to the family.
Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities. Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia’s military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow.
These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.
Fighting in Ukraine has so far pushed more than 500,000 people across the country’s borders, according to the UN refugee agency.