Reshma Ravishanker
A 21-year-old Sushant (name changed), a UPSC aspirant wakes up each day, his race to clear the civil services is ridden with obstacles.
When this enthusiastic aspirant reaches out for a morning stretch, confinement comes in the way. His room, located in a cramped PG in Old Rajinder Nagar is just as wide as his hands’ expanse.
Just when he opens the tap for water, muddy water, ridden with algae gushes from it. Unconvinced that any amount of filtering would purify this water, he opts to buy water bottles worth Rs 50 each day.
The PG that he resides at served him a notice last month that the rent would be increased by 25% from the following month. When he sets foot on the street to head to his coaching centre, he must walk past the ankle-deep water-logged roads, electric wires hanging dangerously and keep an eye on the peak hour traffic all at once. The coaching centre’s library which was in the basement has now been sealed shut following the death of three students forcing him to look for alternatives at a higher cost. Sushant’s struggle has just begun.
Deepak V, another UPSC aspirant also had similar struggles. “We are competing to clear one of the toughest exams in the country, but our living conditions are terrible. We fall victims of frequent food poisoning because of the quality of water that is supplied here. Post the recent rains, the situation only worsened. While government rules mandate that PGs can increase their rates by 10-12% only once in three years, the rent is hiked around 20% each year. One student also committed suicide after this sudden rise in her PG fee recently. No one questions these,” he said.
Deepak added that the financial burden is high because of lack of availability of necessities. “We are dependent on outside food as we stay away from families. The municipality water is full of algae. We cannot expect people cooking en masse to use filtered water. We all shell out several thousands a month only on drinking water. In addition to the exam preparation stress, we have all this to battle,” he said.
Basement horror
The deplorable condition in which libraries of coaching centres function in basements of buildings which are only permitted to be used as parking lots came to light after the death of three students recently due to flooding.
Aniruddh Dhoundiyal, another aspirant said that most libraries in Old Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar, Karol Bagh and Mukherjee Nagar are in building basements. “If there is an earthquake or flooding, so many lives will be lost. When classes are conducted in basements, the strength is nearly 400-500 a batch. There is one access-controlled exit for all of them to come out of. It is nothing but a mishap waiting to happen.
“Fault does not lie with coaching institutes alone. Even with one shower, roads are completely waterlogged. There has been one more incident of electrocution in Patel Nagar which is now known. Open electric wires lie on the street. All in all, it is a death trap for students.”