“I Am Getting Targeted Because…”: Vikas Divyakirti Amid Row Over Basement Deaths

Amid the Delhi civic body’s crackdown on coaching institutes for violating norms after the deaths of three IAS aspirants in Old Rajinder Nagar due to drowning on Tuesday, founder and MD of Drishti IAS, Dr. Vikas Divyakirti, said there are more than 1000 coaching institutions in the national capital but not one has a no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department.

Explaining the complexities, he said the fire department argues that since the building is commercial, the certificate should be for commercial purposes, while MCD demands for an educational certificate.

The incident occurred at Rau’s Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar on Saturday evening after heavy rains.

In an interview with ANI, Mr Divyakirti said that they had a meeting with the Delhi LG on Tuesday. Some students had also come to that meeting and there were also owners of many institutes. There were also top officials of the Delhi government, from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the fire department, and the Chief Secretary.

“When we ask for the certificate from the fire department, they ask us to come through the MCD or DDA. We discussed this in the meeting today. The fire department has assured us that they will make a system through which we can take the certificate directly from them. Even if we get the certificate from the fire department, it is mentioned in it that since the building is commercial, the certificate is also for commercial purposes. MCD says that they want an educational certificate. To the best of my knowledge, not even one educational institution has an educational building certificate. Only colleges, schools, and universities get this. This also happened because before 2020, according to the DDA, we were not in the educational category; we were in the commercial category. According to GST, coaching institutes still come in the commercial category,” he said.

He said that even if they get permission in the future to run the institute in the basement, they will not work and will also try to ensure that not a single coaching institute should run in the basement.

Pointing to the contradiction in the norms of the DDA, MCD and Delhi Fire Department, he said, “Why are we not getting the NOC? DDA believes that this is the work of MCD and MCD says that this is the work of DDA. MCD has written many letters to DDA, and DDA has also replied to various letters and even said that they don’t have the documents and you have to see them. In the last meeting in the High Court, the DDA said for the first time that they were giving the rights to the MCD, and now the MCD in the hearing that is scheduled to take place on Wednesday may give us permission.”

Notably, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed the basements of several coaching institutes in the national capital in a crackdown on “illegally run establishments”.

“We completely agree that the basement should be sealed. But Delhi Metro runs in the basement, underground, and Palika Bazar is in the basement itself. Almost every mall in Delhi has very big shopping complexes in the basement because the basement has been built properly,” he said.

Agreeing that coaching centres should not be run in the basement, he said, “I am saying on record that we have submitted the complete layout structure of the basement to MCD, DDA, and the fire department for NOC, and there has been no rejection from there till now. But despite this, after seeing the incident that happened in the last 3 days, I feel that this was carelessness. The thought never came to our minds, and I am saying very openly that even if we get permission in future, we will not work in the basement. I assure you of this and not a single coaching institute should run in the basement.”

When asked about why he is being targeted in the coaching centre tragedy, Mr Divyakirti said that everyone wants a scapegoat as it makes things easier for the administration.

“I am getting targeted because, in such cases, everyone wants a scapegoat. It makes things easier for the administration, they think they are safe; they let that one person suffer, and even society feels that they have got the accused…The students are going through an emotional turmoil, and the reason for their anger is why I did not stand with them…The sealing action took place in more than 50 institutes, one of which is ours,” he said.

Speaking on why he hasn’t shared any opinions till now, the founder of Drishti IAS said that it is his nature and he’s not very expressive.

“This is my nature, I’m not very expressive. 3 children died, and it was a painful death. For the last 3 days, whenever we talk at home or I go to sleep, an image comes to mind of what those children must have gone through when the water was filled inside…All the things said by the students who are protesting right now are valid. It is good that I have met 3-4 students today. I had a meeting with the Delhi LG. Some students had also come to that meeting, and there were also owners of many institutes. There were also top officials of the Delhi government, from DDA, MCD, fire department, and Chief Secretary,” Mr Divyakirti said.