The tragedy in infamous by-lane of Old Rajinder Nagar in the national Capital, which claimed the lives of three IAS aspirants last week, rocked Parliament on Monday. Leaders cutting across party lines demanded a high-level probe and called for a mechanism to curb mushrooming of coaching centres nationwide, particularly in Delhi.
Lok Sabha members demanded an enquiry into the tragic incident, while Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the culture of coaching centres has spawned “gas chambers” and stressed on the need to examine the huge expenditure on newspaper advertisements by them.
Given the sensitivity and urgency of the matter the Upper House agreed for a short duration discussion on the deaths of three UPSC aspirants by drowning in a coaching centre in Delhi due to waterlogging.
While BJP’s New Delhi Lok Sabha MP Bansuri Swaraj blamed the AAP-led Delhi Government for “utter apathy”, AAP leader Sanjay Singh urged the Rajya Sabha Chairperson to hold discussions in the House also on NEET, Manipur violence and “infiltration” by China.
DMK MP Tiruchi Siva sought to know had this incident happened in a NEET centre, what would have the Treasury Benches done. He said the Delhi LG has all the powers in the national Capital and only he should be held responsible (for this incident). “The Chief Minister of Delhi is just for namesake,” he said.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed Parliament that there are clear guidelines for running coaching centres and it is the duty of the State Governments to supervise their functioning. “We must fix responsibility so that such incidents do not recur. There should be no politics... Negligence has happened and someone has to take responsibility so that a solution can be found,” Pradhan said.
The Government has sent advisories related to coaching centres to the States and Union Territories in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2024, he informed.
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi who initiated the discussion in Rajya Sabha, pointed towards the “laxities” of the Delhi Government’s various departments. “There were many complaints (against the institute). A student complained on June 26 and then a reminder on July 22 while the fire department gave NOC (no-objection certificate) for the use of the basement as storage,” Trivedi said.
In his remarks Dhakhar said, “I find that youth demographic dividend of the country has to be nurtured, I further find that coaching has become virtually commerce.” He also pointed out the high sums earned by the coaching centres leading to commercialisation of education.
“Coachings have become a flourishing industry with high returns....Every time we read a newspaper front one or two pages are by way of advertisements....Every penny spent on advertisement is coming from the students, every new building is coming from the students,” he said.
Comparing the coaching culture to no less than “gas chambers”, the Chairman stated, “In a country where opportunities are getting enlarged this silo is turning out to be a problem..They are becoming no less than a gas chamber.” He urged the members to tell the youths about the various other employment and skill opportunities available in the country.
While Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala demanded a law to regulate fee structure and safety of students as well as their safety, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav wrote to Speaker Om Birla urging him to direct the government to pay Rs one crore compensation to the next of kin of the students who died.
In the Lok Sabha the suicide cases in the coaching hub of Kota in Rajasthan was also taken where Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar said several initiatives have been taken by the Centre to curb incidents of suicide among students. “According to NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau) and Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India, only 1.2 per cent of total suicide cases are related to failure in examinations,” Majumdar told the House.
On the other hand a civil services aspirant wrote to Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud seeking action against officials responsible for the deaths of three fellow students. In his letter, Avinash Dubey said students residing in these areas are “living a life of hell” due to annual flooding caused by “apathy” of the authorities.