Why was the coaching centre running a library in the basement to begin with? Why wasn’t the library also located on the ground or upper floors like the classrooms and other facilities? These are some of the burning questions being asked as anger mounts over the deaths of three civil service aspirants who drowned when the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar area flooded following heavy rains.
The answer to these questions is one and simple – money. Tuition for the classes brings in significantly more money than the libraries. And the rent for the upper floors is costlier than the basement. Hence, the classrooms are located on the upper floors while the libraries are located in the basements.
And that’s the way the students seem to prefer it too. Civil service aspirants News18 spoke to said the libraries are used for studying and preparations by students from lower income families and if these were located on the upper floors, the fees or subscriptions would go up too to make up for the higher rent.
Many of the aspirants from humble backgrounds do not join coaching centres because of their high fees, but do subscribe to the libraries since they need a quiet place to study.
Pankaj Ojha, an IAS aspirant, told News18 that the rent for the first floor in such buildings in Rajendra Nagar can range from Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000, but the same for the basement floors is around Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000.
“Most of the students living here are from middle class or lower income families and even a difference of Rs 1,000 per month matters to us. If these coaching centers will make the library on the ground or upper floors, they have to pay extra and in turn we have to pay extra. But as the rent cost for the basement is cheaper, students get attracted to cheaper library subscriptions,” the 28-year-old explained.
Ravikant Durg, an IAS aspirant hailing from Maharashtra, agreed, saying if students opt for libraries on the first or the second floor, the subscription cost is around Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 a month.
“But we can get these underground libraries for just Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 a month. As students, we have a limited budget,” Durg said, adding that he gets a limited amount from his family who earn a living by farming.
Durg further said the students have to subscribe to these libraries as the rooms they live in do not have space for a study table.
“In a 6×10 feet room, I live with two others. There is hardly any space after our beds. We don’t have a single study table or AC. Going to the libraries is our only scope for studying,” he said, explaining that he is among the students who are not enrolled in coaching centres due to the high tuition.
Durg pays Rs 1,700 for an underground library, operated by a trust and has all the required permission.
“I went to see several libraries. They don’t have ventilation. Staircases are such that only one student can use them at a time and there is no drainage system. At any given time, there are about 60-100 students in these libraries. How much time will it take to bring out 100 students one at a time if anything happens? They will die. The only plus point is that they have an AC room so you don’t really need ventilation but there is no scope of running away in case of an emergency,” he said.
Pankaj Ojha added that flooding is a regular occurrence in these basement libraries, but no one anticipated the fatalities.
“We never thought these libraries could be deadly until our fellow aspirants died. I am not able to process this information. My family called me last night saying they will send me more money and I should not put my life at risk, but I know the condition of my family. My father drives an auto for a living. Sending me a few thousand rupees more would be a lot for them. I have other siblings too. If not this, the financial crisis will kill us all,” Ojha said.
Students whose families can afford it live in single-occupancy rooms that cost Rs 16,000 to Rs 25,000. On the other hand, underprivileged students survive on around Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 a month, which includes budgeting for food and stationery supplies apart from the rent.
For Durg and Ojha, friends are a great support financially. Both these aspirants are being helped by their friends in some form or the other while their families manage to give them Rs 5,000-Rs 8,000 every month.
Another aspirant, 26-year-old Raja Singh, also subscribes to one of the underground libraries.
“My library removed all the posters on Sunday morning after the Saturday incident. I realised that it was also operating illegally. I contacted the in-charge and I was told they are closing it for a few days as a precaution,” Singh said, refusing to share the library’s name.
The students have been pressured by the coaching institutes and libraries to not speak up, Singh added. “We have paid the money for the year. We have to listen to them otherwise the fee goes to waste.”
Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana and Nevin Davin from Ernakulam in Kerala died after flooding due to heavy rain in the basement of the academy on Saturday. Since then, scores of students have been protesting outside Rau’s IAS Study Circle, demanding action against those responsible for the incident.
Standing around a tea shop just 300 meters from the ill-fated institute, Durg, Ojha and Singh said that while they have been protesting since Saturday night with fellow aspirants, they are joining the protest in shifts to allow time for studying.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has sealed around a dozen coaching centres in the Old Rajinder Nagar area and launched action against illegal classes and libraries.
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