USPC aspirants worried as coaching classes remain suspended amid MCD sealing drive

NEW DELHI: UPSC aspirants and coaching centres in Mukherjee Nagar and Rajinder Nagar are in a state of uncertainty as classes remained suspended in the wake of MCD's sealing drive against establishments operating illegally from basements. The new batch of UPSC aspirants, slated to start in the first week of August, is likely to be delayed as most coaching institutes in the areas have suspended their operations, fearing crackdown by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Students are worried about their preparation for the approaching exams.

"I am a student of Vision IAS. After the incident in Rajinder Nagar, my coaching classes are shut completely. There is uncertainty about what will happen and when our classes will resume as my Mains exams are approaching," Amit, a UPSC aspirant, told PTI. "Most of the institutes are completely closed here. They are neither taking offline or online classes as of now. We have no clarity when will our classes resume," another civil services aspirant, Aarti, said.

Mukherjee Nagar, a hub of UPSC coaching centres in northwest Delhi, came under MCD's scanner on Monday in the aftermath of the Rajinder Nagar coaching centre basement flooding that claimed three lives on Saturday. The agency continued its sealing drive to shut institutes running illegally from basement in other areas of the city. According to MCD building bye-laws, basement of a building can only be used for parking or storage purpose. Using it for commercial purpose is prohibited. This uncertainty has forced many outstation students to plan to return home to save on rent while the classes are suspended. Some students also demanded online classes to avoid any loss in studies.

"I am from Deoghar in Jharkhand. Since the incident, no classes have been held and no information is being provided regarding the classes. I am planning to go home as I don't think classes will be resumed in offline mode anytime soon. If they take classes in online mode then I can do that from my home, why will I pay rent here?" Kuldeep, a UPSC aspirant residing in Rajinder Nagar, said. Another student from Rajasthan said he paid a huge amount of fees for the coaching classes. "I came here to fulfil my dream of becoming an IAS officer. My parents somehow arranged the fees. Since the classes are suspended now, I don't know what to do. Institutes should at least start online classes so that we can study," the student said.

PTI approached several coaching centres in Mukherjee Nagar and Rajendra Nagar to seek information on when the classes would resume and if alternative arrangements were being made to take classes in the online mode. A representative of a prominent coaching institute, Drishti IAS, whose basement has been sealed by the MCD in Mukherjee Nagar, said its new batch will be delayed beyond the scheduled date of August 9. "At present, all the institutes here have stopped their classes because of the sealing. We cannot confirm right now when we will be able to resume classes. Our new batch starting August 9 will also be delayed, maybe by 4-5 days. As soon as the situation improves, we will restart our operations," the representative said.

"We also cannot say if online classes will be provided unless things settle down," he added. A representative of Sanskriti IAS in Mukherjee Nagar said the classes are likely to resume from Wednesday. Meanwhile, the MCD has expanded its sealing drive to several other areas of the city that house coaching centres. On Tuesday, the civic body launched a drive in east Delhi's Preet Vihar after sealing 20 basements in Mukherjee Nagar and Rajinder Nagar since Sunday for being misused for commercial purposes. The drive is ongoing and will continue in additional areas. Three civil services aspirants died Saturday evening after water from a flooded drain gushed into the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle where a library was set up. The deceased were identified as Uttar Pradesh's Shreya Yadav, Telangana's Tanya Soni and Kerala's Navin Dalwin.