Coaching centres 'gas chambers', says Jagdeep Dhankhar on Delhi tragedy

New Delhi: The Delhi incident in which three civil services aspirants died resonated in Parliament on Monday with Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar dubbing the culture of coaching centres as a "gas chamber" and Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar blaming the AAP government's "carelessness" for the tragedy.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said responsibility must be fixed so that such incidents do not recur and there should be no politics over it.

Three IAS aspirants -- Shreya Yadav from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Navin Dalwin from Kerala -- died after the basement of a building housing Rau's IAS Study Circle coaching institute was flooded following rain on Saturday evening.

During Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, members cutting across party lines demanded stern action against those responsible for negligence resulting in the death of three IAS aspirants.

Rajya Sabha held a short-duration discussion on the coaching centre deaths.

Dhankhar said the culture of coaching centres has become no less than a "gas chamber" and stressed the need to examine the huge expenditure incurred on newspaper advertisements by them.

He remarked, "I find that the 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 the 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.

Responding to the debate, Urban Development Minister Khattar said, “I understand the agencies responsible for this carelessness is either the MCD or the Delhi government for this sheer carelessness.” Khattar said 1,120 institutes were issued notices in 2023 but no action was taken after the notices were issued. He said that timely action could have prevented such incidents.

The minister said that a fire NOC (no objection certificate) was issued to the coaching centres in July, after which some complaints were made in this regard but allegedly no inspection was carried out.

Intervening in the debate, Pradhan said coaching institutes have to follow rules and regulations and asserted that there should be no politics over the deaths.

The minister termed the incident unfortunate and said nothing would compensate for the loss the bereaved families have suffered.

"We must fix responsibility so that such incidents do not recur," he said, adding, "There should be no politics... Negligence has happened and someone has to take responsibility so that a solution can be found." During the discussion, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala demanded a law to regulate the fee structure, conditions of teachers as well as students and also their safety.

"The government should have paid attention to the issues instead of promoting crony capitalism," he said.

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi pointed at the "laxities" of the Delhi government's various departments.

"There were many complaints (against the institute). A student who complained to the Delhi government on June 26. He gave a reminder on July 22. In the meantime, the fire department gave NOC (no-objection certificate) for the use of the basement as storage," he said.

TMC MP Derek O'Brien asked the government whether it had addressed the "commodification" of education in its National Education Policy (NEP).

He referred to an incident in Kota in Rajasthan where a major fire broke out in the hostel for boys preparing for NEET and JEE and urged the government to allow education "to be handled only by people who understand education".

DMK MP Tiruchi Siva said, "Had this incident happened in a NEET centre, what would have the treasury benches done? I don't know." AAP leader Sanjay Singh contended that the Centre regulates the coaching centres and defended his party's government.

"The Delhi government ministers demanded cleaning of the sewage drains. But the officials did not pay any heed. This (incident) is the result of 15-year long MCD rule (of BJP) in Delhi," he said.

In the Lok Sabha, members demanded stern action against those responsible for negligence resulting in the deaths.

BJP member from New Delhi constituency Bansuri Swaraj blamed the AAP government's "criminal negligence" and its "failure" to desilt drains ahead of the monsoon season as a reason for the flooding of the basement of a building housing the coaching centre.

"AAP is enjoying power, but has not done anything for the welfare of the Delhi residents," Swaraj alleged.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said there should be a thorough investigation to ascertain who is responsible for the tragic incident. "In Uttar Pradesh, the bulldozer is run over illegal buildings. I want to know if bulldozers will be run here also." Congress MP Shashi Tharoor demanded a comprehensive inquiry into the matter and compensation for the families. He said drains have to be cleaned and steps taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

Separately during the Question Hour in the lower house, the government said it has taken several steps to curb suicide cases among students and noted that 1.2 per cent of suicides were related to examination failures.