NEW DELHI: Civil service preparation students in Mukherjee Nagar on Monday, July 29 took to streets to slam Drishti IAS academy proprietor and Youtuber Vikas Divyakirti amid a notice by MCD that sealed his basement over the violation and misuse of office space following the deaths of three students at another IAS academy.
Divyakirti, an affluent Youtuber, has been running his coaching centre in Delhi’s busy Mukherjee Nagar area.
When The New Indian met these students, they were carrying a candlelight march in support of the deceased while also raising a banner of protests against Divyakriti outside his coaching centre.
An irate student, Shubham,told the New Indian, “Vikas Divyakriti is not able to come out of the world of limelight. He doesn’t want to see the ground reality of students and their problems. He just cares about business.”
Another student said, “We have been taught disaster management, but there is no management to control disasters in the classrooms themselves.”
When The New Indian team asked who they think is responsible for this, a student replied that it is all part of a mafia. He said, “This is coaching mafia; they are exploiting students. Tomorrow, if something happens to me, no one will take responsibility. They are increasing the library fees and rent on their own.”
Mukherjee Nagar, a prominent hub for IAS and UPSC coaching, features the same type of basements that are commonly used as libraries or lecture rooms. In response to the incident, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed five basements, including those of Drishti IAS Institute, Vaji Ram IAS Institute, VajiRam and Ravi Institute, VajiRam and IAS Hub, and SriRam IAS Institute.
The MCD had issued a notice concerning the misuse of property by Drishti IAS Institute, which operates out of the basement of the Single Unit Local Shopping Centre at Vardhman Mall, Nehru Vihar. The basement, which encompasses Towers 1, 2, and 3, is used to train approximately 300 students. This use has been reported as a violation of Clause 15.9 of the Master Plan for Delhi 2021.