Delhi govt issues guidelines for safety and security of school students after UPSC coaching centre tragedy

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Wednesday issued guidelines for safety and security of school students in the aftermath of the Rajinder Nagar coaching centre flooding incident, which claimed the lives of three UPSC aspirants.

According to the guidelines issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE), the schools -- both private and government run -- have to follow the provisions of Master Plan for Delhi, 2021 regarding use of basement in public buildings.

The school authorities have to ensure all necessary steps at their level to avoid water logging in and around the school premises.

"Delhi has recently experienced an unfortunate incident in which three Civil Services aspirants drowned in the basement of a coaching institute and one aspirant has lost his life due to electrocution. It is imperative that all the schools in GNCT of Delhi shall ensure safety and security of students and shall have proper requisite infrastructure in place to avoid any untoward incident," read the circular.

The guidelines mandated that the principals should ensure the basements, if any in school buildings, shall be used only for permissible activities as per provisions of the Master Plan and as per the sanctioned plan.

"All gates of the school buildings shall be functional and opened for entry and exit. The access to the basement shall be properly marked and clearly indicated in the school evacuation plan. All the corridors shall be free from obstructions at all times and smooth passage be ensured," said the circular.

School corridors and staircases shall be regularly checked for water accumulation and requisite necessary action to be taken, it said.

"Electrical wirings and fittings, including appliances shall be checked and all safety norms be followed to avoid any kind of untoward related incident. The school shall have all requisite fire safety measures in place," it added.