New Delhi cracks down on coaching centers after student deaths

New Delhi officials are cracking down on coaching institutions in the national capital after three students lost their lives in flooding during the weekend. The incident claimed the lives of students who became trapped in the basement of a civil service coaching center in the Indian capital.

According to media reports, police and the firefighting department received distress calls on Saturday as the basement of the coaching center quickly filled with water following heavy rains.

At the time of the flooding, the basement was occupied by 18 students. While most were rescued, three could not be saved: Shreya Yadav, 22, Nivin Dalwin, 23 and Tanya Soni, 21, all lost their lives. In addition, traffic jams reportedly delayed the arrival of rescuers. The basement in question was to be used as a parking and storage area but was instead being used as a library, in breach of regulations.

Meanwhile, media reported on Monday that Municipal Corporation of Delhi has started action against illegal coaching centers and will set up a high-level committee to probe the flooding. A team of officials reached Old Rajinder Nagar locality – the hub of civil service teaching centers – to shut down illegal basements, the authority said. Around 13 such coaching centers were sealed on Sunday. The crackdown by the authorities came after mounting pressure from students’ protests, demanding justice from the government and action against illegally used basements, Hindustan Times reported.

Meanwhile, five people were arrested in relation to Saturday’s incident, including four co-owners of the property. They have been placed in judicial custody.

Millions of Indians, primarily from rural parts of the country, head for the capital each year to attend coaching centers to crack the highly sought-after Indian Administrative Service (IAS) government jobs. Every year, over a million aspirants apply for a series of nine tests to serve in Indian bureaucracy. However, the success rate of these incredibly tough exams was a mere 1.12% last year.

Typically, the classrooms of these coaching centers are located on the upper floors while the libraries, used for study and preparation by students from lower-income families, are located in the basements, News18 has reported. 

The incident has also triggered discussion in the Indian Parliament, where a budget-related session is currently underway. Vice President and speaker of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament, Jagdeep Dhankhar, insisted that the highly lucrative coaching industry needs to be “examined.” 

The Indian education minister noted that “negligence” had caused the incident and asserted that “accountability” was needed to fix the problem. “It is our responsibility to ensure that such an incident is not repeated,” Dharmendra Pradhan said, according to the Indian Express.

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