UPSC Coaching Deaths: SC Pitches For Permanent Solution For Regulating Coaching Centres Across India

The top court said that the solution has to be a permanent one and not just a sudden reaction to and an unfortunate incident.

The top court said that the solution has to be a permanent one and not just a sudden reaction to an unfortunate incident.

Source : PTI

The Supreme Court on Monday heard the suo motu case in the matter related to the deaths of three civil service aspirants at a coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar in July 2024, due to the flooding in the building's basement. The top court while pitching for uniform standards for coaching institutes across India said that the solution has to be a permanent one and not just a sudden reaction to an unfortunate incident.

The top court today stressed the need for establishing uniform standards on pan-India level to ensure safety and security of students studying at coaching centres.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing the case where three students drowned in the basement library of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar area after it was flooded following heavy rains.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, the amicus curiae in the case told the top court that the broad areas that required attention at the coaching centres include fire safety, fee regulation, student to classroom area ratio, student to teacher ratio, installation of CCTVs, medical facilities, mental health care and counselling of the students. Dave further said that all states should be made parties in the matter.

The top court said that the solution has to be a permanent one and not just a sudden reaction to an unfortunate incident.

The bench further stressed the need to have uniform standards on the issue and directed the respondent authorities to come up with suggestions to the amicus on the desirability of a comprehensive policy for coaching institutes, initially with respect to the National Capital Region (NCR).

On August 5, the bench had observed that coaching centres have become death chambers and were playing with the lives of students. 

On September 20, the top court had directed Centre to appoint a committee probing the three deaths to submit an interim report about the measures it wanted to be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

The top court also directed the state government of  Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to apprise it of the policy and legislative and administrative changes made to prevent such incidents in future and said that uniform initiatives should be implemented in the entire NCR to prevent another Old Rajinder Nagar-type incident. 

The top court will be examining the issue at pan-India level. The matter will be heard again after two weeks.