Amidst the backdrop of MCD action against illegal coaching centres in the Old Rajinder area after the Delhi coaching centre tragedy, UPSC aspirants claimed private libraries have doubled their fees.
Delhi Coaching Centre Tragedy: Amidst the crackdown launched by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on coaching centres operating in basements or using the space as a library, several privately-owned licensed libraries in the Old Rajinder Nagar area, and its adjoining areas where coaching institutes are located, have allegedly doubled their membership fees, adding to the woes of UPSC aspirants who already a pay hefty amounts for coaching classes.
Many civil service aspirants have claimed that the fee hike by private libraries is a direct result of MCD action against coaching centres whose basements have been sealed by the civic body, following death of three civil services aspirants in Old Rajinder Nagar last Saturday after a coaching centre basement, which was illegally being used as a library, got flooded due to heavy rain.
“Earlier, the library owners, who ran libraries on the first or second floor, used to charge Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 per month but now after the closure of many libraries, they have doubled their fees knowing the students have no other option,” Pankaj, a UPSC aspirant, told news agency PTI.
Pankaj noted that most civil service aspirants live in rented rooms during the course of their UPSC coaching and need libraries to study and prepare as their accommodations are too small and cramped to do that.
“The students who will be appearing for the (UPSC) mains exams shortly have nowhere else to go because the rooms in which we live are so small that we cannot study and we need libraries,” Pankaj said.
Another student, also preparing for this year’s UPSC mains, said the libraries in the adjoining areas of Rajinder Nagar, such as Patel Nagar, have also hiked their fees, asking students to pay Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per month, more than double the amount they charged previously.
MCD cracks down on illegal coaching centres
On Sunday, the MCD had launched a drive against coaching centres in the Old Rajinder Nagar area, a coaching hub in central Delhi, sealing 13 illegal coaching centres who found to be running classes in their basements or using the space as a library.
The action came a day after three UPSC aspirants died in a flooded basement at the Rau’s IAS Study Circle, a prominent coaching centre in the central Delhi coaching hub.
On Monday, the MCD terminated an officer and suspended another as well as launched an anti-encroachment drive to remove illegal structures covering storm drains which leads to waterlogging in the Old Rajinder Nagar area, the civic body said.
The MCD also launched a similar crackdown in northwest Delhi’s coaching hub Mukherjee Nagar on Monday and sealed Drishti IAS– a prominent IAS coaching institute, after the establishment was found using the building basement as a classroom.
(With PTI inputs)
