NEW DELHI: More than a thousand students from different institutes were sitting on Bada Bazar Road in Karol Bagh. Some have a paper in their hand which read “We Want Justice“, another one read “Ye Hatya Hain (This is a murder)”. Everyone was shouting and the sweat could be seen on their forehead as it was a humid and hot end of July. Everyone was angry with civic bodies and wanted to talk to the authority and senior-level officers in Delhi Police.
We are not talking about any random protest here but they are the future bureaucrats of India. They are UPSC aspirants and are currently protesting in Delhi. Ever since we heard that UPSC aspirants need a single room and their books to live, the irony is these students are on the road to protest in the national capital this time.
It’s been one week since Saturday when three civil service aspirants Shreya Yadav of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni from Telangana, and Navin Dalwin from Ernakulam in Kerala died because of being trapped in an illegal basement library which was flooded due to heavy rain in Delhi on 27th July.
Since then students from different institutes have been protesting in front of Rau’s academy’s building for their demands. UPSC conducted their Prelims examination of 2024 on 16 June 2024 and 14,627 students cleared that and will sit now in UPSC mains 2024 which will be held on 20th September 2024 but because of the protest and this heartbreaking incident, everyone was in shock and silent from inside.
The New Indian spoke to some students who have cleared their Prelims and are preparing for the UPSC mains and tried to know how they are preparing for the mains and what’s in their minds. How much this incident shook them too.
23-year-old Rahul is from Hisar, Haryana, and is preparing for UPSC mains here in Old Rajendra Nagar. Rahul was once a student of SriRam IAS classes. Like all students, Rahul also felt shocked and said: “This was a shocking incident for us and heartbreaking too, and even when we talk about this incident in our friend circle then we felt very sad because those three students were like us who came away from our house for UPSC.” “Students are afraid of the future too because waterlogging is not new here, every year we face this problem but the basement of Rau’s was too deep and illegal so that is why this incident happened, and what if this type of incident happens in the future” he added.
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Rahul wasn’t able to clear his prelims on his 1st attempt and this is his 2nd attempt this time where he already had cleared prelims and will sit for mains on 20th September but this time it is different from last year. Rahul told The New Indian, “Because of this incident now our parents are also concerned and they daily ask me to stay in my rooms and not go outside and not touch any iron-made thing to prevent me from electricity shock.” He added further, “There were so many libraries but they all are sealed now so we have to study in our room only so our study is affected because of all this and I think this can affect our UPSC Mains result too.”
Besides these students still have to face the rental issue. Rahul lives in a room that doesn’t have a permanent roof but is covered by tin shades. “I paid 14,000 for this room but during the rain, the roof leaked so now you tell me how a student can study her peacefully,” he said in a low tone.
Ashwini* 24, is from Uttar Pradesh and has been living here in Old Rajendra Nagar (ORN) for the last 2 years. He will appear in the mains on 20th September for the first time. He said, “This is my first Mains and I want to do this well but this incident disturbed us very much and now students like me who will appear in the mains are so disturbed and are not able to study and most probably this incident and now the situation here will affect our mains result too.”
“We will not stay quiet because Delhi Police and the whole administration always face protests from common people or political parties but this time it’s future bureaucrats vs administration,” he added.
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Shalini* is one of the students who is going to sit in Mains and is equally concerned about the exam. “I have submitted my library fee in one of the basement libraries but now the library is sealed and now I don’t know how to ask for more money from my parents because they also have concerns for us.”
She added, “If this protest could be nationwide the same as the NEET protest then it could be different and I don’t know how much time we will sit here on the road.”
Same as Rahul, Ashwini, and Shalini, many students are concerned about their mains but don’t want their names in the media because they think that once their names are published and if they clear the Mains exam then this can affect their interview which will happen after clearing the mains. These students will join the same system with which they are fighting these days and according to Rahul and Ashwini, this is like a case study for them because this will teach them how to work in the system and what not to do.
While this protest is still going on with a lack of students, students are in doubt about what will happen to their studies and how much this incident will affect the UPSC Mains result which is on 20th September.
*The names of Ashwini and Shalini are changed to protect their privacy.