A month ago, a major incident took place at Rau IAS coaching centre in Delhi. 3 students died due to water logging in the basement library amid heavy rains. After the incident, MCD sealed the libraries of many coaching centres. Many places were closed due to lack of fire NOC. Now the students are worried. Along with lakhs of rupees, their dreams are also at stake.
A student says- I had taken the room only to sleep. Time was spent in the library from morning to night. There was air conditioning as well as good atmosphere. Now either I will have to return home or learn to study in the same windowless room.
But studying in the basement is also dangerous! Three of your friends have died?
What do you think, the library was running in the basement. There are so many houses here where there is PG in the basement. That too without a contract. If something happens, no one will even know. Sound – melting like soap in the rain.
Clouds of anger, fear and hopelessness pass over the face of this 22-year-old boy at the tea stall. This boy from a small village in Uttar Pradesh wakes up every day not with the dream of becoming an IAS officer, but with the death of that dream.
We reached Old Rajendra Nagar exactly a month after the accident on July 27.
As soon as we reached Rao Coaching Centre, it started raining, as if nature itself was recreating the scene. Within about half an hour, the roads were filled with 2.5 to 3 feet of water. Bikes were completely submerged and cars were half submerged. To save myself, I took cover behind a coaching centre nearby.
The basement was sealed here too. The iron gate in front was firmly closed. Two guards were checking the pump repeatedly. Even after this, water was gushing in from the slightly open portion of the gate.
Soon water started accumulating in the parking space. Pointing to it, an employee of the centre says – the same thing happened in the neighbourhood too. See, if so much water can enter through a closed gate, what will happen when the gate is opened!
He used to run a library in the basement, this is also wrong!
‘It is not working! Children used to get a good reading space at a low cost. It was safe too. It was running for so many years, never heard of such an accident! What was to happen, happened. MCD is also at fault in this. This is the situation every time it rains. They should also do something. We take space by paying so much rent, how can we let it remain vacant. Even now the roads are dug up.’ The employee sitting on the stairs away from the water had a well-fed expression on his face
Here we met a student who has been preparing for the last two years. On the condition of anonymity, he says, ‘Adaptation.’ After the incident and the library being sealed, this is what we learnt. Make do with whatever we have. The rooms are small. It is hot. There is no atmosphere. There is only one fan, but when the power goes out, it too makes a noise. The landlord complains when other friends come. But we are learning to study anyway. Those who cannot, are also returning.
And you?
I will wait. If not now, then within a month the libraries will open. Or some other arrangement will be made. Coaching centers have charged for the whole year for the reading space, why should they spoil their name.
It was found that when Rau’s was closed, the students there were sent to other coaching institutes. There they are allegedly being taught for free. However, when we met two such centres, they clearly refused to say this on camera.
The administration in-charge of one such very old coaching institute says- If we had not supported them, many children would have harmed themselves. The boys who came from small places were under more pressure. We accommodated them. At present, no charges are being taken from them.
The admin head, sipping coffee leisurely, is not ready to say this on camera. ‘It is for welfare, why advertise it’ – he says.
On the other hand, a child from Rau’s school clearly denies this. He says- Just like in big schools, a few seats are given to poor children for show, then no one cares about them. We are also getting the same treatment here.
Why. Are you not being taught!
Classes are being held, but there is pressure to pay the fees to them also within a short time.
The process of exploring Old Rajendra Nagar ends here. Now I am headed towards Mukherjee Nagar. The area from where so many children have emerged with the tag of IAS.
There are many children who come here to prepare for civil services but stop at advertising for coaching. Yes, walk on the streets here looking for coaching centres and within a minute you will be among a small crowd. Everyone is promising to get you the best institute.
In Old Rajendra Nagar, these boys are known as marketing executives, whereas in Mukherjee Nagar they are called promoters.
Work: To bring inquiries, i.e. to bring a prospective client like me to the coaching centre.
50 rupees for every inquiry.
These are the boys (this is what coaching institutes call them) who came to Delhi with the dream of becoming IAS, but in a year or two their garden of dreams turned into a jungle of needs.
One such promoter Sunil says- We came to study but the fees were so high that we could not join. We managed for one or two months, then we had to find a job. Earlier, we used to distribute pamphlets for coaching. In between, we got a job as a guard in a girls PG. Now we bring inquiries for coaching. Fifty rupees for taking one person. Some old people are also on salary.
How much salary do you get?
I am not a permanent employee. There is a target. I could not get a single penny two days ago. I got fifty rupees yesterday. I could not take even a single inquiry today. You are making a video when you met me. Sunil says his point while laughing.
If you started working, you might have missed your studies!
No. Why would she leave? It is for her that I made so many fusses. The job of a night guard is fine. In that I had to study both day and night. I also created a YouTube channel to earn extra money. Boys from villages tell people how to prepare for IAS while working. Subscribers are also increasing. If the watch time increases, money will also start coming in. Sunil, who has come from a remote village in UP, talks like a professional.
Why don’t you return home? Do self study there. I give you unsolicited advice.
How can I return? I have been here for four years. If I return, I will get such taunts that they will pierce me. Even if I go on leave, I cannot stay. There is pressure that I have to earn money, even if I have to lose my dreams.
Many ‘genuine’ inquiries are seen roaming around on the road. While going to catch them, Sunil says in a simple way – You have not made any inquiry, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Ahead is the residential area of Mukherjee Nagar.
The influence of coaching institutes is equally deep here. Shops adorned with books and magazines. Tea stalls, whose operators are as well informed about the world as these future IAS officers. Very old buildings, on which there are more pamphlets pasted than paint. And amidst all this – children with an unknown presence.
Libraries operate here too. The only difference is that they operate on a floor instead of the basement.
We headed towards one such library. After climbing the stairs that prepare us for high jump, we met Kanhaiya Kumar. Kanhaiya, who hails from Godda in Jharkhand, works in the library from 9 am to 8 pm, after which he studies there for the next five hours.
And gold!
Now I haven’t come so far to sleep. I have cleared the prelims twice. I am preparing for the mains.
We talk to Kanhaiya, who looks busy, in his office. The office has just enough space to keep a chair and a stool and a CCTV screen is installed. Kanhaiya keeps an eye on the library from here. He says- This work does not require much effort. Keep watching the CCTV while sitting in the office. If needed, arrange seats. Then keep studying. That is why I am doing this job. I intend to clear the exam this time.
Don’t you take coaching?
No. Most students are like this. They get an idea by taking coaching for the first year or six months. After that they sit in the library and do self study.
Why the library, if you have to study then why not at home?
The rooms here are not fit to be called homes. The rooms are so small that a person of full height cannot even stretch his legs and sleep. There are no windows, no ventilators. Children come here out of fear. They get a decent place to study. When they see people studying around them, they feel like studying.
In Old Rajendra Nagar or Mukherjee Nagar, library does not mean books, it is a reading space.
There are small cubicles here. There is a bulb burning on every desk. People can come and go here 24 hours a day. It is not necessary that these places with biometric system are connected to any coaching institute. Especially in Mukherjee Nagar, many people have rented one floor of a building and converted it into a library.
Fees are charged according to the number of hours you want to sit in a month or year. Night fees are the lowest, so many children come and study at night.
Even though these libraries are not in the basement, their condition is also very bad. Libraries with such narrow spaces that one can reach from one row to another by bending the shoulders. Only one door for exit and entry. Dark and steep stairs. It is not difficult to imagine how difficult it would be to escape in case of an accident.
You will find a fire extinguisher hanging at the main door of every library. The lines written on the notice board nearby are erased, but the fire extinguisher is new and shining.
Many stories of success and failure can be found floating around in this area, with its rusty old buildings and smelling of waste paper.
In the series of meeting one such story, we reached an alley inside. A heap of garbage in front of the house. A drain overflowing in the rain. A mixed smell of fresh food and dirt. And a completely dark corridor. On the first floor is the young man who has been selected in IRS. There is a crowd of visitors of the same age in a small room.
He says- I have training in November but I am also preparing for IAS. If I get it, all the problems will end. Living in a room like a mousetrap. Eating unwillingly. Restlessness 24 hours a day. Everything.
Praise and jealousy both in the eyes of the visitors.
The accident that happened a month ago has become an old pothole dug on the road, which even if not filled, people are not afraid of. They stop and pass by the side.