Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar on Monday allowed a short discussion in the Upper House on the deaths of three UPSC aspirants in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar. Commenting on the state of coaching centres, Dhankar said coaching had become virtually a commerce. "Every time we read a newspaper, the front one or two pages are of their advertisements," he said. The students had died due to drowning in a basement of a coaching centre in Delhi.
Jagdeep Dhankar also called coaching centers 'no less than gas chambers'. He allowed Short Duration Discussion under Rule 176 on the issue. "The issue concerns our promising youth.... urban infrastructure as well as other aspects of governance... Under these circumstances, I deem it proper to allow for a Short Duration Discussion under Rule 176 immediately after the Question Hour. These discussions may normally be confined to two and half hours."
The discussion on coaching centre deaths was also held in the Lok Sabha, where BJP's Bansuri Swaraj, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav, and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor spoke.
Yadav said it was the responsibility of the officers to plan and provide NOCs. "The question is who all are responsible and what actions are being taken against them. It's not just a single case of illegal building, we are seeing it in UP that illegal buildings are being bulldozed, will this government will run a bulldozer here or not?" he asked.
Swaraj said that it was due to criminal negligence of the Delhi government that those students lost their lives. "For a decade, AAP has been enjoying power in Delhi, but not doing work for the people of Delhi. MCD has been under AAP for the last 2 years and Delhi Jal Board is also under them. The residents of Old Rajinder Nagar were continuously complaining to the local MLA, Councillor and officers - the MLA kept doing satire but didn't take any action," she said.
Delhi Police may question MCD officials
Delhi Police may question MCD officials about desilting of drains and the clearance certificate issued by them to the Rau's IAS Study Circle where three students died due to flooding of a basement being used as a library, PTI reported, citing sources. The police may write to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) over these issues, and if required in the course of the probe, may call the officers concerned for questioning.
The MCD is responsible for the desilting of stormwater drains. It has been alleged the drainage system near the coaching centre in the Old Rajinder Nagar area was not working properly due to which a large quantity of rainwater accumulated on the road, and gushed into the basement.
The police will also ask the MCD to furnish the occupancy certificate where the basement owner allegedly said it'd be used for parking and household storage, the news agency reported. The owner was using the basement for a library and also set up a biometric system to regulate access, police said.
Delhi Police has registered an FIR and formed multiple teams to probe the incident. The owner and the coordinator of the Rau's IAS Study Circle have been arrested and booked for culpable homicide and other charges.
(With inputs from PTI)