New Delhi, Jul 29 (IANS): Days after three UPSC aspirants lost their lives due to flooding in the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi's Rajinder Nagar area, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday expressed serious concerns over the commercialisation of coaching centres, calling them "gas chambers" for students.
On Saturday evening, three UPSC aspirants lost their lives after heavy rainfall led to waterlogging in the basement of the coaching centre, which was being used illegally as a library. The incident trapped 17 other students for several hours, highlighting the dire safety issues in these establishments.
During a short-duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Vice President Dhankhar criticised the incident, pointing out the pervasive issue of coaching centres prioritising profit over safety.
"This is a very serious issue. Every day when we read newspapers, we see the first few pages filled with advertisements for coaching centres. Where does so much money come from? It comes from the students who want to fulfil their dreams," he said.
"Coaching centres have become no less than gas chambers," the Rajya Sabha Chairman added.
Meanwhile, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi blamed the Delhi government for what he termed "criminal negligence".
He alleged that despite knowing about the consequences, the students were put in a state of danger.
The basement of the coaching centre was used as a library in violation of the rules since the space was allowed to be used only for parking and storage purposes.
Citing the complaints lodged by the students, Trivedi said the authorities were "already informed and reminded" about the "illegal operation" of classes at the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle without proper non-objection certificate (NOC).
"Strict actions should be taken against all UPSC coaching institutes that are putting students' lives in danger," Trivedi said, quoting a letter by a student to the Ministry of Grievances, NCT Delhi, on June 26.
The Rajya Sabha MP also mentioned that a reminder was sent to the ministry on July 15 and July 22.
He also highlighted the need for immediate investigation and accountability to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.