Delhi coaching centre tragedy echoes in Parliament; MPs raise serious concerns

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed the MPs raising the issue and the latter holding a discussion that saw MPs cutting across party lines expressing concern over the deaths.

New Delhi: The death of three civil service aspirants due to flooding in a coaching centre led to passionate demand in Parliament on Monday for a full-fledged probe and stringent action against erring officials even as the Union government sought to blame AAP-led Delhi government for the incident.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed the MPs raising the issue and the latter holding a short duration discussion that saw MPs cutting across party lines expressing concern over the deaths.

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar found fault with the Delhi government for its "carelessness" for the incident as he spoke in Rajya Sabha. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said coaching institutes have to follow the rules and regulations and asserted that there should be no politics over the incident.

AAP Rajya Sabha floor leader Sanjay Singh said, "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."

In Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav described the incident as tragic and said, "In Uttar Pradesh, bulldozers are run over illegal buildings. I want to know if bulldozers will be run here too."

Allowing the discussion under Rule 176, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said the culture of coaching centres has become no less than a "gas chamber" as he emphasised on the need to examine the huge expenditure incurred on newspaper advertisements by them.

"I find that youth demographic dividend of the country has to be nurtured, I further find that coaching has become virtually commerce... 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.

Participating in the debate, senior Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala asked why can't coaching institutes be regulated. Demanding a law to regulate fee structure, conditions of teachers as well as students and also their safety, he said that there has been commercialisation of education in the last 10 years and everyone is shedding their responsibility.

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, who initiated the discussion, blamed the Delhi government for its "laxities" that led to the incident. "There were many complaints.

While TMC MP Derek O'Brien asked the government whether it had addressed "commodification" of education in its National Education Policy (NEP), DMK MP Tiruchi Siva said the Delhi LG has all the powers in the capital and only he should be held responsible.