Students continue protests against coaching facilities in Delhi, say they want action not assurances

New Delhi [India], July 31 (ANI): Protests outside the coaching institutes in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar continue for the fourth day on Wednesday after 3 UPSC aspirants lost their lives in a flooding incident at the basement of the Rau’s IAS coaching centre. The students have been protesting because they believe that their demands have not been met yet.

Robin, a student who is part of the protest, said, “We were given assurance when the fire incident happened in ‘Sanskriti IAS’, but the coaching institutes opened again after one week. We don’t want to weaken our protest just after hearing the assurances. We don’t want assurances; we want our demands to be fulfilled. We want action”.

“Police tried to manipulate to take back the protest. It’s not a small issue. Three students have done so. The protest going on is at a small level; the protest should occur on a large scale. We are not going to withdraw the protest unit unless our demands have been met,” he added.

A student stated that they are in talks with the authorities and the work for some of their demands has started

“We are holding regular talks with the Delhi Police. We will also bring new demands. Officials are working to resolve some of the demands,” she said.

“When we started the protest, we decided to be peaceful because we are Civil Service aspirants and our way of dissent and protest has always been passive restraint. We have the assurance that our demands will be fulfilled but it’s time to see how they will meet our demands. 13-18 students are sitting here on a hunger strike. We are not even going to take water until and unless our demands have been met,” she added.

The protesting students however say they will not stop other students from going to the institutes or colleges.

“We don’t want our protest to obstruct public lives by any means. especially, we don’t want to put children into problems. Our gates will be opened when school students come and go then we will again close the gates”, a protesting student said.

Meanwhile, additional DCP Central Sachin Sharma assured students that the actions have been initiated by the concerned authorities to fulfil their demands

“A lot of false messages are circulating on social media and people are believing them, related to casualties or biometrics. We are trying to tell them the proper facts. We are also telling them about the action being taken by the government agencies. The LG also held a meeting last evening and the representatives of the students attended it. Action is being initiated on their demands by concerned authorities,” additional DCP Central Sachin Sharma said.

On Tuesday, students and representatives of 15 coaching institutions met the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena, at his house.

A student who was in the meeting said “We demanded 3 crore compensation for the students who died in the incidents, though the coaching centre has not disclosed the compensation amount but they have agreed to pay the compensation”.

“Representatives of coaching institutes asked to make a bridge between the institute and students so that they can pay the compensation money. LG sir assured us that a committee will be formed, where student representatives of coaching institutes and government officials will be part of that group, this committee will hear the concerns of the students, and the committee will check whether the norms of the buildings are being followed properly or not,” the student added.

Earlier, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Delhi Chief Secretary, the Police Commissioner, and the MCD Commissioner on Tuesday, calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks. The NHRC also directed a survey to identify the number of such institutes and coaching centres operating in violation of prescribed norms in the national capital and to take action against negligent officers failing to address these irregularities.