The protest led by civil services aspirants outside Rau's coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar is set to intensify further as protesting students went on an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday, demanding action in the case of the death of three students. Ten aspirants have started an indefinite hunger strike till their main demands, including compensation of Rs five crore to the victims' families, are met, said one of the protesting students.
"Somewhere we had a brief hope that the administration will listen to us, we will be heard, heard by the UPSC coaching lobby, heard by the authority, but after four days we have come to a realisation that this protest is going nowhere," said a woman protester.
"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. So here we are to make sure that this incident does not disappear till justice is served," she stated.
What are the key demands?
According to the protesting students, their main demands are compensation of Rs five crore to the victims' families, all the details of the FIR filed in the incident, the committee should report within a specified time frame and prohibition on using basements for libraries and classes across Delhi.
What did happen at Rau's IAS Study Circle?
Three civil services aspirants died on Saturday evening after water from a flooded drain gushed into the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar where a library was set up following rains.
Suspension of classes troubles students
The sealing drive led by MCD caused anxiety among students as their classes remained suspended in the Mukherjee Nagar and Rajinder Nagar areas. Uncertainty over the resumption of classes created confusion as coaching centres are not assuring as to when the class will start again.
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).
"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, said.
"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.
(With PTI inputs)
