Delhi coaching centre deaths: Students begin hunger strike to press for demands

NEW DELHI: Civil services aspirants holding a protest against the death of three students in the flooded basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle building in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area on Tuesday began an indefinite hunger strike to demand action in the case. More than 400 students have been participating in the protest for the past three days amid heavy police deployment.

A protesting student said 10 aspirants started an indefinite hunger strike till their main demands, including compensation of Rs 5 crore to the victims' families, were met. "We had a brief hope that the administration would listen to us, we would be heard by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) coaching lobby, the authorities but after four days we have realised that this protest is going nowhere," said a woman student sitting on the hunger strike. "We are not taken seriously. Just because we are aspirants, they think that we will break and after some days we will go back to our studies. We are here to make sure that justice is served," she said.

The protesting students are demanding compensation of Rs 5 crore to the victims' families, details of the FIR filed, a committee report within a specified time and a prohibition on using basements for libraries and classes in Delhi, another protester said. The three UPSC aspirants died due to flooding of the Rau's IAS Study Circle building basement in the central Delhi coaching hub of Old Rajinder Nagar following heavy rain on July 27. Water from a flooded drain gushed into the basement where a library was set up.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police said they were interacting with the protesting students daily to understand their problems. "We are interacting with them daily and are understanding the problems they face. We are also writing to the authorities concerned regarding their problems," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) M Harsha Vardhan said. A students' delegation also met Lt Governor VK Saxena with their demands, he said.