Delhi coaching incident: Protesting students meet MCD Commissioner, calls meeting "fruitful"
Jul 31, 2024
New Delhi [India], July 31 : A delegation of UPSC aspirants met Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Commissioner Ashwani Kumar at the agency headquarters on July 31.
This meeting comes amid protests following the deaths of three students at a coaching centre in the national capital.
The delegation described the meeting as "fruitful" and stated that they had been assured of "proper action" in response to the incident.
Another student from the delegation warned of protests at the Vidhan Sabha and other locations if the promises made to them were not fulfilled within the specified timeframe.
"The meeting was fruitful. MCD will release a press release. MCD is taking proper action on our demands that come within its purview. Other agencies are also being communicated with. We have been assured of proper action. We will wait and watch," said one of the students from the delegation.
"We spoke with the MCD Commissioner just now. Around 20 of us met him. We have been assured that work will be completed within a set timeframe. But we would like to warn that if it doesn't finish within the set timeframe--the compensation amount and all the promises that have been made--we will gherao not just Old Rajinder Nagar but also Vidhan Sabha and other places. But we will wait for all the legal actions, FIR, and other legal procedures to be completed in 10-15 days," said another student from the delegation.
Earlier in the day, MCD authorities also met with a group of students. During the interaction, MCD's Additional Commissioner, Tariq Thomas, admitted that the incident was a 'failure' of the civic body officials.
"It is a failure for all of us and for me personally. It is a failure for us as officers that this incident has happened," Thomas said, taking responsibility for the lapse. He admitted that the officials should have performed their duties better, saying, "This should not have happened. We should have done our duty better; there is no excuse."
The deaths of three UPSC aspirants occurred after the basement of a coaching centre in Central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar was flooded with rainwater on Saturday, July 27, sparking protests by the students.
