Students urge Haryana govt to reopen libraries, coaching centres

After the Union and Haryana governments announced dates for many competitive exams, students preparing for these exams have urged the government to reopen libraries and coaching centres

After the Union and Haryana governments announced dates for many competitive exams, students preparing for these exams have urged the government to reopen libraries and coaching centres.

Students said government has announced dates for over 20 competitive exams and urged that libraries should be reopened so that they can prepare for the exams. (Getty Images)

All coaching institutes and libraries were shut down for the last two months owing to the second wave of Covid-19.

Kuldeep Kumar, a postgraduate student of Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak, said the government has reopened gyms and malls with 50% capacity but it is yet to open libraries and coaching centres.

“The Haryana government has announced dates for over 20 competitive exams, including Haryana Civil Services (HCS) exam. We are waiting for reopening for libraries and coaching centres so that we can excel in our studies,” he added.

Jyoti Rathee, a resident of Jhajjar who is preparing for UGC-NET exam, said the Covid curve is declining. “We hope that the government will reopen educational institutes especially for postgraduate students,” Rathee said.

“Almost two years of our studies have been spoiled due to Covid and the government is yet to reopen educational institutes and conduct new recruitments. We are capable of taking all precautions. We are expecting that the National Testing Agency will conduct the UGC-NET exam in July. For its preparation, we urge the government to reopen libraries,” she added.

Sandeep Kumar, who runs a library in Rohtak, said that the government has reopened malls but is still not allowing opening of libraries.

“Last year, we suffered a loss of ₹3 lakh. And in the last two months, I had to bear a loss of ₹1 lakh as libraries were shut down due to the pandemic. If the government will not open libraries and coaching centres, we won’t be able to survive,” he added.

Arvind Sihag, a private library owner in Hisar, said they suffered huge losses due to both waves of the pandemic.

“We had a sitting capacity of 80 students before restrictions were imposed by the state government. Our business has taken a hit. We urge the government to reopen libraries with 50% capacity,” he said.

“Most students coming here are from rural areas and are unable to make arrangements of WiFi, newspapers, magazines, books and other facilities due to financial issues,” he added.