Common thread at Delhi coaching centres – violations galore

While local authorities and the police are on their toes to crack down on illegal coaching centres, many students face risk on a daily basis

Classrooms and libraries in basements, no fire or emergency exits, electricity meters and mangled wires too close to the building, and narrow staircases — these are some of the glaring safety violations found in many coaching centres across Delhi.

The staff of a coaching centre vacate their basement in Old Rajendra Nagar in New Delhi on Monday. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)

While local authorities and the police are on their toes to crack down on illegal coaching centres, many students face risk on a daily basis because of dozens of coaching centres flouting norms.

On Saturday, three students at Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajendra Nagar drowned in the basement of the building when they were trapped due to sudden flooding.

Police said they found that the coaching centre was illegally running a library from the basement. As per the Unified Building Bye Laws for Delhi, basements can’t be used for classrooms, libraries or any other commercial activities. However, a spot check by HT across Delhi on Monday revealed that many coaching centres were running libraries or classrooms in the basement.

A number of coaching centres were also shut temporarily as the owners appeared to be wary of authorities catching them in the light of the Rajendra Nagar tragedy.

Central Delhi

Around 10-12 libraries were illegally running in Karol Bagh, Rajendra Nagar, and Patel Nagar on Monday. These libraries, located inside basements, were shut overnight on Sunday and locked from the outside when HT visited the spot. Students complained that the basement classrooms made them feel “suffocated” since there’s no exit or ventilation.

Rajesh Shankar, 45, owner of a utensils shop in Rajendra Nagar, said that owners of a small coaching institute which was running in the basement packed up and left on Sunday. “He was running the coaching centre for two months now but yesterday, he came, packed up all the stuff, took the furniture and left,” he said.

Students unanimously said the biggest rule being flouted are the libraries/classrooms operating in basements.

“Our classes are taken in the basement. There are over 600 students in a class and all of us have to study in a space that barely has enough to sit. If someone has to use the washroom, the entire row has to get up,” said a student who said he paid more than ₹2 lakh for UPSC coaching.

Another student, Satyam Pandey, 26, said: “The rent for basements is much lower than upper floors. Owners of libraries in basements charge ₹3,500 a month and access for 24 hours a day. There are very few libraries running on upper floors and they are almost always full, not accepting students.”

The owners and staffers of these coaching centres could not be contacted as they were not present at any of the institutes during the spot check.

Vaibhav (single name), 24, said, “Our tests and classes happen in the basement only. It felt suffocating sometimes but I never realised how it can turn fatal until now.”

South Ex, Lado Sarai

In south Delhi, many coaching centres were open and students complained that entire basement area is being used to “expand” rooms.

Students outside the NEET wing of Aakash Institute in South Ex told HT on Monday that two classrooms were set up in the basement. A student, aged 18, said, “The classrooms have been allotted for RM-09 batch and some other batch. These are mainly for students who take an additional year after the first NEET exam to get better scores. These are small rooms and we are all packed in such rooms daily.”

Another student said the rooms were locked on Sunday. On Monday, there was a barrier placed outside the basement entry.

Responding to the allegations, Dr Pradeep Kumar Sharma, deputy director at the South Ex branch (engineering wing), said, “There were two rooms which were temporarily used as classrooms because additional classrooms were being built on the second and third floor. It’s a mere coincidence but the construction is done and the classrooms were shut on Friday-Saturday. We were never going to use that space permanently… Our basements also have emergency exits and are not used for any activity other than parking.”

Hardly a kilometre away, a coaching centre for school students is entirely run from the basement of a residential building. Excellent Track Pvt Ltd had teachers and students as young as six years old inside the basement.

The institute has a narrow entry and staircase with no emergency exits. There are four rooms inside the basement. There’s also sets of tangled wires outside the building.

The head teacher at the institute, Mamta Sharma, said, “We have been running the centre for years. We follow safety guidelines and nobody has ever complained.” When asked about the owner and the violation, Sharma refused to share any more details.

In another residential building two coaching centres were running from the basement in H block, South Ex 1 – a UPSC institute along with an IELTS-TOEFL institute.

A student at the UPSC institute said, “What can we do? They only charge ₹12,000 for the entire course. We have to sit with more than 60 students in a small room every day but this is the cheapest option for us. My parents can’t afford coaching centres in Karol Bagh.”

There was a small door outside the basement – the only entry/exit point. This building, too, was surrounded with hanging wires.

In Lado Sarai, another UPSC institute was found in a congested lane. The classrooms were inside the basement and there was a small kitchen outside. The students said the teacher, who is a retired government official, teaches under privileged kids at the centre.

Tilak Nagar

At Tilak Nagar’s Ashok Nagar double storey – another hub of coaching institutes, HT witnessed a number of violations ranging from narrow staircases, lack of alternative exits to electricity metres installed at the entrance.

The coaching institutes operate on the main road adjacent to the Tilak Nagar Metro station. Students said even though none of the institutes in the area was using a basement, waterlogging still occurs when it rains outside. “The challenge is reaching the institute when it is raining. Despite being next to the Metro station, waterlogging makes it a challenge in itself. There are also low hanging wires, which can make it risky, particularly when it rains,” said a student taking CUET classes in the area.

A 17-year-old Yash Kumar, preparing for CLAT, is studying at one of these coaching institutes operating from a stilt parking, similar to the one at Rajendra Nagar, however, there is no basement either. “The good thing is there is a lift and a fairly wide staircase at my centre. Other centres in the area are not that well equipped and the staircases are narrow,” he said.

Raj, 25, who does not use a second name, is doing an AC-PCB course in the area and comes all the way from Gurugram every day. “All institutes must have alternative exits. Agencies must also visit such hubs and scan all local-area problems like waterlogging, narrow entrances and live wires,” he said.

Mukherjee Nagar

Mangled wires overhead, congested lanes and violations in buildings that house thousands of coaching centres are clearly visible.

Several coaching centres said that classes had been temporarily suspended from Monday as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) started a sealing drive there in the aftermath of the Rajendra Nagar tragedy.

Students said that they are forced to attend classes in small classrooms, with barely any ventilation and often, no proper fire exits and narrow staircases which are bound to be insufficient in an emergency.

Last year in June, a fire in one of the coaching centres here had put spotlight on concerns like fire safety violations and other civic issues.

Shristi, 25, (who wished only to be identified by her first name) said, “These coaching centres have been flagged for violations several times but nothing has really changed over the years and a lot of students here have a lot of pressure on them to succeed, so they rarely care about building violations.”

“The coaching centre I first went to barely had one proper exit, let alone fire exits. The one I go to now is not better either. Each small classroom, which hardly has capacity for 50-60 students often houses over 120 students,” she added.

Laxmi Nagar

At least four libraries were found running with no makeshift walls inside. In Pandav Nagar A block area, a coaching centre and a library inside the basement were packed with students. One of the students in the library said that the library is cheap and a viable option for many students.

At another institute, next to the Laxmi Nagar Metro station, a giant flex board covered the entire facade of the building. Students complained of a lack of emergency exits, no fire safety measures and exposed wires inside their classrooms.

Geetanjali, a CA (Inter-level) student from Himachal Pradesh, said, “Teachers are located in this area so we have to come here for our classes.” Ankur, CA (Inter), a student from Panchkula, Haryana, said, “Since we are students we have to manage things in our budget and this area fits in our budget.”