FIITJEE Ghaziabad operating 'illegally'; several centres in Delhi-NCR shut abruptly, FIRs lodged

NEW DELHI: Several FIITJEE centres have unexpectedly shut down across Delhi-NCR and many teachers have resigned due to non-payment of salaries for months, according to students and their parents. FIRs have been registered against two centres of the private institute, which provides coaching for competitive exams to engineering aspirants, in Noida and Ghaziabad.

According to FIITJEE's website, it runs 73 centres across the country. An email sent to FIITJEE seeking comment remained unanswered at the time of filing this story. The abrupt closure of FIITJEE centres has left many students and their parents, who have paid fees running into lakhs of rupees, in the lurch.

Sandhya Singh, the mother of a student who was enrolled at FIITJEE's Laxmi Nagar centre, said her family paid Rs 5.4 lakh for their son's two-year course. "My son was preparing for the engineering entrance exam at FIITJEE's east Delhi centre in Laxmi Nagar. The centre has been closed for a week without notice. "We paid Rs 5.4 lakh in advance for the two-year course because they offered us a discount for paying in fewer instalments. Now the centre head's phone is switched off and no one else is answering our calls," Singh said.

FIITJEE teachers resign

She said she contacted her son's teachers and found out that many of them had resigned due to non-payment of salaries and joined another well-known coaching institute. The affected parents have created a WhatsApp group to keep abreast with the latest developments, she said. Another parent has lodged a police complaint in connection with the closure of the Laxmi Nagar FIITJEE centre.

"I paid Rs 3.40 lakh for a four-year course for my child, who is in class 11. The centre closed abruptly. A few days ago, my son mentioned that many teachers had left and joined another coaching institute. At first, we didn't think much of it but realised later that the centre may have closed because of the lack of staff," said the parent who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Also read JEE Main is ‘business’ today; parents link expensive education, coaching, IIT fee hike to student suicides

"We are now being approached by the coaching institute that the teachers have joined and we may have to consider it as there's no other option. Our child's future is at stake," the parent said. A former FIITJEE teacher said he resigned due to irregular payment of salaries. "In the past year, we received salaries intermittently. Five months' salaries are still pending. We requested the centre head to clear the dues but he was clueless as there was no clarity from the top management," he said.

He also refuted allegations of the other coaching institute poaching FIITJEE's faculty members, saying the institute only hired the teachers who left in large numbers due to non-payment of salaries. In mounting trouble for FIITJEE, FIRs have been registered against its centres in Ghaziabad and Noida.

FIITJEE Ghaziabad centre 'illegal'

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida, Ram Badan Singh told reporters that a case of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust has been registered against the FIITJEE centre in Sector 62. "A complaint was received at Sector 58 police station regarding the FIITJEE centre in Sector 62, Noida, which was found closed when students reached there for their classes on Wednesday. "The entire staff was absent.

Subsequently, the parents of the affected students filed a complaint yesterday (Thursday). Based on this, a case of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust has been registered and we are investigating the matter," Singh said. The second FIR was registered against the officials of the FIITJEE centre in Ghaziabad's Raj Nagar area. According to the FIR, the coaching centre was operating "illegally".

Also read ‘Disgraceful’, ‘child traffickers’: FIITJEE draws flak for ad shaming ex-student, using suicide for comparison

Several complainants have stated that they paid advance fees ranging from Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh to the coaching centre for their children's coaching, the FIR stated. "It has been noted that teachers have gradually left the institution and the staff members, including teachers, have not been paid their salaries. Additionally, classes for the students have not been conducted for several days, causing academic loss to the students," it said.

Upon a review of records, it has been found that there is no registered coaching centre in the name of FIITJEE Limited, D-6 and 7 RDC, Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad. This clearly indicates that the coaching centre is operating "illegally" without prior registration, which is a direct violation of the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Coaching Regulation Act, the FIR stated.