After the tragic Rau's IAS Study Circle tragedy that took the lives of three UPSC aspirants and a day after renowned coaching institute Drishti IAS's basement was sealed by MCD over violation of laws, its owner Vikas Divyakirti on Tuesday said that students' anger was justified. He also claimed "ambiguity and contradictions" in existing laws. He said, "This problem related to coaching institutes is not as simple as it appears."
Notably, the MCD initiated action on illegal spaces of the coaching after the Rajendra Nagar flooding incident. In line with that, the basement of Drishti IAS's Mukherjee Nagar centre was sealed on July 29. Large number of student protestors also turned up outside his house on Monday night demanding he speak to them.
Divyakirti apologised for delayed statement
In his first reaction, Divyakirti apologised for the delay in issuing a statement. He said, "We are sorry that we delayed in presenting our side. Actually, we did not want to say anything based on incomplete information. We sincerely apologise for this delay." The statement, which was posted on the official X handle of Drishti IAS, further said, "We express our deepest condolences on the unfortunate incident of Saturday in which 3 students Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni and Nivin Dalvin died untimely and tragically."
'Inconsistencies in DDA, MCD, Delhi Fire Department rules', Divyakirti
Moreover, he alleged inconsistencies in the rules framed by the DDA, MCD and the Delhi Fire Department. "This problem related to coaching institutes is not as simple as it appears. It has many aspects that are linked to the ambiguity and contradiction of the laws. There is inconsistency in the rules of the DDA, MCD and Delhi Fire Department."
"Similarly, There is a lot of contradiction in the provisions of the 'Delhi Master Plan-2021', 'National Building Code', 'Delhi Fire Rules' and the 'Unified Building By-Laws'. There is no provision for coaching institutes in any document except 'Delhi Master Plan-2021'," Divyakirti further added.
Furthermore, he said, "Clear provisions have not been given. It is hoped that when the committee appointed by the Union home ministry submits its report in a month, most of the above-mentioned points will be resolved in it."
Safety measures in place
Speaking about measures of safety in his institute, Divyakirti assured that measures for the safety of students were in place at his coaching institute. "At present, our management has a special post of 'Fire and Safety Officer' on which the officer working is a graduate from National Fire Service College (Nagpur) and has been working in big hospitals and malls for 14 years. They regularly conduct safety audits of each building."
"In addition, an officer is assigned to each building to keep a check on the safety of 16 buildings daily. The buildings in which our classrooms are located have at least two exits so that children can get out safely in case of any emergency," the statement read.
(With PTI Inputs)
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