Dreams and despair in Delhi’s UPSC hub
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Days after three UPSC aspirants drowned in the basement library of a coaching institute in Delhi, students protest in the streets over crumbling infrastructure, as the police, administration, and courts snap into belated action. Behind the deaths though, is the struggle of aspirants to survive Delhi, India’s main exam-training hub, finds Samridhi Tewari
Hoardings and banners at Mukherjee Nagar, Delhi, advertising the services of UPSC coaching centres.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Ten months ago, Shubham Mishra, 25, boarded the Prayagraj Express from Kunda in Pratapgarh district, Uttar Pradesh, to Delhi. Overwhelmed at the Capital’s expanse, he sat on the Delhi Metro for the first time. “Until then, I’d only seen it in Hindi films,” he says. His destination, Karol Bagh, branded by IAS Drishti, a 25-year-old coaching institute, marked the start of his Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) journey. His father, a farmer, had taken a loan of ₹1,60,000 to fund this adventure and dream.
Mishra’s expectations of Delhi were shaped by movies and YouTube and Telegram channels. He imagined days filled with chai pe charcha (group discussions over tea) and the shared struggles of learning. He found paying guest accommodation at ₹10,000 in Old Rajinder Nagar, one of the city’s UPSC hubs, once a refugee colony of the Sindhi and Punjabi communities. The area has open drains in places, and the stench from them mixed with the sweat of people hard at work did not deter him. For Mishra, this was step one of The UPSC Success Story.
Old Rajinder Nagar, adjacent to the Central Ridge reserve forest, has IAS coaching institutes sharing boundaries with kothis (independent houses), jewellery stores, and nightclubs. The area featured in the web series Aspirants, the journey of friends during their time struggling through the UPSC training.
In the last seven to eight years, Old Rajinder Nagar has seen an influx of students living here. They prepare for the UPSC exam that last year saw about 10 lakh people, with a minimum of a graduate degree, vie for for 1,016 posts for various central services, of which just 180 were for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Every eye was on Mishra when he was new in the locality: he was a potential customer — for coaching classes, rentals, books and stationery.
After seven months in the locality, he found his reality starkly different. “I live in a cramped space. Plus, there was the stress of studies and high costs,” he says. He took up a part-time job as a tutor to school students, earning ₹15,000 a month.
“Many of us come to Delhi for job security and to escape unemployment,” Mishra says. “With just a BA degree from a village, options are limited. The UPSC is a way to prove ourselves and change our families’ situations. If not the IAS, there is banking, and the railways,” he says. “Going back home is not an option.”
Three dead, many traumatised
On July 27, after heavy rain, three civil services aspirants drowned in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar. The basement, illegally operating as a library, got flooded. Thirty students climbed on tables and chairs to escape the rising, dirty water. The fire department, National Disaster Response Force, and Delhi Police took eight hours to rescue those who hadn’t managed to climb out, and to drain out the water.
Many, like a 23-year-old from Assam, who doesn’t wish to be identified lest his parents worry, escaped after he was pulled out with a rope. “It is only when the glass door broke that we were able to get out. There were glass pieces all over; we were gasping for breath,” he says.
The relatives of Tanya Soni, 21, from Telangana; Nevin Delvin, 28, from Kerala; and Shreya Yadav, 25, from Uttar Pradesh, arrived in Delhi, to take home their children’s bodies.
This isn’t the first incident of UPSC aspirants combatting big-city infrastructure problems. On July 22, a 26-year-old was electrocuted in Patel Nagar, an area adjacent to Delhi’s political power centre, after slipping on a waterlogged street and grabbing an iron gate with exposed motor wires.
In multiple colonies of Mukherjee Nagar, located just 12 km away, there are about 200 coaching institues for students to prepare for a variety of exams besides the civil services: banking, management, medicine, and engineering. The facades of buildings are covered with advertisements for coaching institutes, so are the stairs. The area is glamorised in the Bollywood movie 12th Fail, a real-life story about a man from Bihar who cleared the exam after some attempts.
Last year, 61 students were injured in two fires in Mukherjee Nagar. Some students were hurt in the stampede that followed, as a class of 200-250 students rushed down the stairs. Ginni Rathi, 22, is still traumatised by the incident. She was on the third floor when the fire broke out. “At that time, I was only thinking about my parents back home in Moradabad [in Uttar Pradesh]. I kept crying for help, but nobody came. When it felt like time was running out, I tried to escape using a rope, but I lost my grip and fell on an AC unit, and then to the ground.” She was injured on her back, hands, and legs.
Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi, wears a deserted look after the incident.
| Photo Credit:
SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
In a status report to the Delhi High Court following the Mukherjee Nagar fire, the fire department revealed that a survey of 461 coaching centres as of July 2023, found they lacked necessary fire safety measures. There were narrow and inadequate staircases, a lack of firefighting equipment on the premises, an absence of water sources and exit routes.
The Delhi police reported that only 67 out of 583 coaching institutes in Delhi had fire safety certificates. The MCD issued 296 show-cause notices to building owners and occupiers where coaching centres were operating. Now, the fire department has identified 535 coaching centres that have violated fire safety norms.
Delhi’s dirty secrets
The Delhi Master Plan 2021 requires fire and statutory clearance for basement use in coaching centres. The MCD found that Rau’s IAS coaching centre misused its basement for commercial purposes instead of for parking or storage. The stretch between Shankar and Pusa roads, which dips in front of Rau’s IAS, often accumulates water during heavy rains. In a report submitted to the Municipal Commissioner, the superintending engineer of Karol Bagh zone said that the institute blocked the drainage by building extensions and ramps, causing water to flood the basement. The day of the incident, an FIR was filed under Sections 105 (culpable homicide), 106(1) (death by negligent act), 115(2) (causing hurt), 290 (negligent conduct regarding building), and 35 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which replaced the Indian Penal Code last month.
So far, seven have been arrested, including Abhishek Gupta, the coaching centre CEO; coordinator Deshpal Singh; basement owners Parvinder Singh, Sarvjit Singh, Harvinder Singh, and Tejinder Singh; and Manuj Kathuria, who allegedly caused a wave by driving on a waterlogged street, damaging the gate, and flooding the basement. The vehicle has been seized, and all accused are in judicial custody.
Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava opposed Kathuria’s bail plea, arguing that he exacerbated the incident. Srivastava presented videos from Kathuria’s social media handle showing him driving the same SUV. The prosecutor commented, “He is a mastikhor, aur masti mein inhone yeh sab kar diya (He is reckless and his careless behaviour led to the incident).”
Kathuria’s lawyer argued that the lane was open, with water 2.5 feet high and the vehicle moving at only 15 km/h. He claimed that arresting regular people is a media show, while no government official has been held accountable.
As the court drama persisted, political parties that have offices in Lutyens’ Delhi, where the security is tight and the police patrolling strict, and where tulips grow in winter, are now warring over whose fault it is.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi of negligence leading to the students’ deaths. AAP promises strict action against those responsible. New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj criticised AAP in Parliament, stating, “The cause of death of these three students is the utter and absolute apathy of the AAP ruling dispensation in Delhi.”
The Delhi High Court took cognisance of the matter and has ordered the MCD to produce all relevant files on Friday. The court questioned the Delhi police on why not a single MCD official has been arrested. It ordered the MCD Commissioner to be present in court on Friday.
Lives lost
Shreya’s parents, dairy farmers from Ambedkar Nagar, learnt of her death through her uncle, Dharmendra Yadav, who himself found out about the incident through TV news channels. After calls to her went unanswered, he rushed from Ghaziabad to the PG accommodation she lived at. “I finally found her at Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital’s mortuary,” he says.
A BSc Agriculture graduate from Kamla Nehru Institute in Sultanpur, Shreya came to Delhi, as her parents hoped the environment would propel her towards success. “Delhi is the hub of competitive exams; we wanted her to understand how important language is, and we hoped she would pick up English. That’s why we decided to send her 300 km away from us,” her uncle says. For Shreya to study, the entire family pooled in money, her the father took a loan as well.
Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena has announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh for the families of the deceased. Nevin’s uncle, Linu Raj, who was at RML Hospital to collect the body, says, “We don’t need compensation. The response shouldn’t just be crackdowns; it must ensure no centre operates in violation of rules.”
Nevin was a PhD scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University from Thiruvananthapuram, and his family was delighted that he was in one of India’s top colleges. His father is a Deputy Superintendent of Police, and his mother is a geography professor. “How can a reputed institution be so careless? This negligence endangers lives,” Raj adds. Nevin’s mother got so sick after hearing about her son that she has been hospitalised.
The UPSC Mains, the second written component of the exam, is in September. Students from various coaching institutes are on an indefinite strike, protesting government negligence. They protest daily, through the 90% humidity. Placards at the Karol Bagh protest, near Rau’s IAS, read “Thanks MCD for giving us — Misery, Corruption, and Death” and “Dying for the system — the dream died.”
Their demands include increased compensation for those who died, the naming and arrest of negligent officials, a government committee report, sealing and prohibiting basement use, and cleaning all drains and sewers. Students actively share their grievances with the media.
DCP (Central) M. Harsha Varshan says, “We engage with the students daily, conveying their issues to other agencies. The Delhi L-G also met them, and we’ve asked them to trust that their problems will be addressed.”
On Wednesday, MCD Additional Commissioner Tariq Thomas admitted the civic body’s failure in the Rajinder Nagar coaching centre deaths. Interacting with the protesting students outside Rau’s IAS Study Circle, Thomas said, “We have structural issues like you said and they need to be addressed systematically.” He promised to take action and hold people responsible, while also saying that Delhi’s growth had outpaced the master plan, contributing to the problems.
Holding the dream
Mohammad Sharin, 21, stands in protest in a crisp white kurta. He comes from a town near Allahabad in U.P. He squats on the ground, and talks about how Delhi, the city, was a dream; so was the UPSC that he calls a “craze.” He decided to become an IAS officer the day he stood at the school Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan went to, and was denied admission because he didn’t speak English. “I had completed Class 5, but they told me to join Class 4,” he says.
Sharin arrived in Delhi alone on the Rewa Express, renting a poorly ventilated room, partitioned into cubicles with plywood. Many such rooms are not wide enough for an arm span. “I don’t like it here, but the UPSC craze drives us. This is why everybody comes to fulfil their dreams. They agitate when they’re let down,” he says, pointing to the protesters.
He says many, like him, come to Delhi from small towns driven by the aggressive marketing of coaching centres. “When I arrived seven months ago, I was overwhelmed and scared. Everyone was handing out pamphlets and selling dreams, but how many are fulfilled?” he says.
Advertisements showcase toppers, while a protester outside Rau’s IAS Study Circle questions, “What about those who didn’t make it due to government neglect?” A founder-director at an IAS coaching institute admits that marketing strategies bring people from tier 1, 2, and 3 cities. “The results are also better here,” he adds. He also admits that institutes earn up to ₹200 crore, and that the sector operates “with a chalta-hai (anything goes) attitude”.
Accommodation ranges from ₹25,000-30,000 a month, while yearly coaching fees range from ₹2.5-3 lakh. In Kota, the coaching hub for medical and engineering entrance exams, students spend about ₹1.5-2 lakh on coaching. Rent is three times cheaper because it’s not a metropolis. After the COVID pandemic, coaching has now opened up online, but people come to Delhi for its infrastructure and ambience.
In a basement not far from where the disaster took place, Mohan, 25, from Malda in West Bengal, lives with three others. Each time there’s rain the room fills with water. He says, “I keep a current tester handy, and keep checking the walls and iron cupboards every 30 minutes when it rains.” There is seepage and a musty smell because the room has little ventilation. To go to class, he must wade through sewage water. But once he gets there, he spends most of his time in the library that has air conditioning.
Mohan’s cubicle has a picture of Swami Vivekananda, exam prep details, and fairy lights. “I cannot go back home now; I have a responsibility,” says the physics-chemistry-maths tutor, who works part-time.
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