The National Consumer Helpline (NCH) has facilitated a refund of Rs 1 crore in enrolment fees to students and aspirants of various competitive exams, including UPSC Civil Services and IIT entrance, the government said on Sunday. The refunds were processed at a pre-litigation stage following intervention by the Consumer Affairs Ministry after students from across the country raised grievances against coaching centres offering classes for various competitive exams. Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said, "This action reaffirms our commitment to ensure that coaching institutions adhere to fair practices and honour the rights of consumers." The NCH initiated a drive to resolve these grievances on a mission-mode after receiving numerous complaints regarding unfair practices by coaching centres, particularly their refusal to refund enrolment fees, an official statement said. NCH received 16,276 grievances from students in 2023-2024, up from 5,351 in 2022-2023 and 4,815 in 2021-2022.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed a Union government-appointed high-level committee probing the death of three IAS aspirants in a coaching centre here in July due to flooding in the building's basement to submit interim measures in four weeks to prevent such incidents. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi governments to apprise the court of policy, legislative and administrative changes made to prevent a repeat of such incidents. It said uniform initiatives should be taken in the entire National Capital Region to prevent another Old Rajendra Nagar-type incident from happening. "If the need arises, we will pass directions for pan-India to prevent Old Rajendra Nagar-type incidents," the bench observed. On July 27, three civil services aspirants drowned in the basement library of Rau's IAS Study Circle in the Old Rajendra Nagar area here after it was flooded following heavy rain. On August 5, the top court observed that coac
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The owner of Rau's IAS study circle coaching institute where three UPSC aspirants drowned due to waterlogging in old Rajinder Nagar on July 27 "knowingly" used the basement for commercial purpose in contravention of the usage approved by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the CBI has alleged. In light of the "seriousness" of the allegations, the CBI sought special court's permission for "custodial interrogation" of coaching institute owner Abhishek Gupta and other accused Deshpal Singh, Harvinder Singh, Parvinder Singh, Sarabjeet Singh and Tajinder Singh who have been in judicial custody. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg on Saturday sent all six to CBI custody till September 4. In its submission to the court, the CBI has said that its probe has also shown that the institute did not have a fire safety certificate for nearly one year after the issue was flagged before the Delhi High Court in 2023. When the matter was raised before the high court last year that many
A Delhi court on Saturday sent six people arrested in a case related to the drowning of three civil services aspirants in a coaching centre's basement in Old Rajinder Nagar to four days' CBI custody. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Nishant Garg sent Abhishek Gupta, Deshpal Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh, Sarabjit Singh, and Parvinder Singh to the custody till September 4. "Considering the submissions in the application and in particular the scope of investigation in terms of the order dated August 2, 2024 of the High Court of Delhi, custodial interrogation of the accused persons would be necessary for the purpose of investigation and for ascertaining the role played by various individuals who might have been involved in corrupt practices or criminal negligence," the judge said. The judge passed the order on an application filed by the CBI seeking police custody of all six accused for four days for their interrogation. The order was passed after the accused were produce
A team of IIT-Delhi professors has examined the SUV, seized in connection with the drowning of three civil services aspirants at Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar, and the gate of the building housing the coaching centre, the CBI said Wednesday. In its report submitted before a special court here, the central agency said the experts took the measurements of the vehicle and the gate on Sunday. The agency further said that the SUV, a Force Gurkha, will also be inspected by a domain expert i.e. a motor vehicle inspector. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought one more week's time to get the vehicle examined by the inspector. The agency has made the submissions in response to vehicle owner's plea to release his SUV. Citing the postmortem report, the CBI has said that the three UPSC aspirants had died during the flooding on July 27 due to asphyxia caused by antemortem drowning. The agency said its investigation revealed that on July 27 at about 6.30 pm, several
Abhishek Gupta, CEO of Coaching Center, had sought access to the building where three UPSC aspirants died on July 27 in Old Rajender Nagar
A Delhi court on Friday rejected the bail applications of four jailed co-owners of a coaching centre basement where three civil services aspirants drowned last month. Principal District and Sessions Judge Anju Bajaj Chandna said, "Investigation is at initial stage. I am not inclined to give bail." A detailed order of the court is awaited. On August 17, the court had reserved the order after hearing the arguments of the lawyers of the CBI and the basement's four joint owners -- Parvinder Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh and Sarbjit Singh. The Delhi High Court recently transferred the probe into the deaths in the basement of the coaching centre building in Old Rajinder Nagar from police to the CBI "to ensure the public has no doubt over the investigation".
Pointing to the "extravaganza of coaching centre advertisements" in newspapers, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday expressed concern over the "seductive" draw of the civil services, urging them to look for "lucrative" opportunities in other fields. Dhankhar was addressing the induction programme of the first batch of joint masters/LLM degree in Intellectual Property (IP) Law and Management at National Law University, Delhi. "...Now, I find the extravaganza of coaching centre advertisements overall in the newspapers... page one, page two, page three are filled up with faces of boys and girls who have made it. The same faces are being used by multiple organisations," the vice president said. "Look at the extravaganza of these advertisements, the cost, every penny of that advertisement has come from those young boys and girls who are in pursuit of securing a future for themselves," he added. The vice president asked the youth to look around for opportunities in other fields as
The plea also advocates for the development of an education system focused on the holistic development
MCD also issued notices to coaching centers and property owners for misuse of property
The CBI has taken over the probe into the deaths of three civil services aspirants at a coaching centre in Delhi, officials said on Wednesday. Shreya Yadav (25) from Uttar Pradesh, Tanya Soni (25) from Telangana and Nevin Delvin (24) from Kerala drowned after water gushed into the basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar here following heavy rains on July 27. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case from Delhi Police following a Delhi High Court order. The court had castigated police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) over the students' deaths, saying it was unable to fathom how they could not come out of the basement. It also sought to know whether the doors were blocked or staircases narrow. "What's your line of looking? How did the children drown? You have done an investigation now. We are on August 2. Why were they not able to come out of the basement? It doesn't get flooded immediately. Water takes at least two-three minutes to fil
The bail pleas of four co-owners of a coaching centre's basement, where three civil services aspirants drowned last month, will now be decided by a district judge here on Monday. Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Kumar, who was hearing the appeal of the accused -- Parvinder Singh, Tajinder Singh, Harvinder Singh and Sarbjit Singh -- against the denial of bail by a magisterial court, on Saturday referred the bail pleas to the Principal District and Sessions Judge, Central Delhi. The court gave the direction noting it did not receive the high court order transferring the case to CBI. The District and Sessions Judge, Delhi Central, will take a decision in view of recent developments," Additional Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava said. The matter has now been posted for hearing on August 5. The Delhi High Court had on Friday transferred the probe into the drowning of three civil services aspirants due to the flooding of the basement of the coaching centre from police to the CBI "to .
India needs a comprehensive policy solution to mushrooming of coaching institutes, the Congress said on Saturday and called for a revision of syllabi, more resources for all exam-takers and investments in the quality of education. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said data provided by the Department of Higher Education to the Rajya Sabha shows that GST collections from coaching institutes have risen rapidly between 2019 and 2024, from Rs 2,241 crore to Rs 5,517 crore. This represents an astonishing 146-per cent rise in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, some part of which may be attributable to better enforcement, but it also likely comes from the growing market size, he said. "Worryingly, the GST collections of Rs 5,517 crore in FY24, collected at a rate of 18 per cent, suggests a market of Rs 30,653 crore for coaching institutes annually. This is an extremely worrying figure, since it corresponds to about two-thirds of the Union Budget's ...
The students have been protesting since July 27, when three civil services aspirants lost their lives in the basement of Rau's Rau's IAS Circle after rainwater gushed into it
How broken our governance and how incredible our hypocrisy must be that we cannot make profits from educating young Indians, but can earn thousands of crores by giving them tuitions?
Rau's IAS Study Circle has offered compensation of Rs 50 lakh each to the families of three UPSC aspirants who died after rainwater gushed inside the institute's basement in Old Rajinder Nagar last week. The institute announced the compensation on Thursday, five days after the incident occurred. "We are offering Rs 50 lakh compensation to the family of each student who has lost their lives. Half the money will be given now. While the remaining portion will be given once Abhishek Gupta, CEO of the organisation, comes out or within six months, whichever is earlier", Rau's IAS advocate Mohit Saraf told PTI videos. On July 27, three UPSC aspirants drowned in the basement library of Rau's coaching centre. The Delhi Police has arrested seven people in connection with the case, including Rau's CEO Abhishek Gupta and coordinator Deshpal Singh. Family members of the two victims, Shreya Yadav and Nevin Dalvin, told PTI over the phone that they want justice for all the victims, and they have
Rau's IAS coaching centre deaths: Delhi HC on Friday transferred the case to the CBI to probe the deaths of the three IAS aspirants in the basement flooding incident at a coaching centre last week
Coaching centre deaths: Reacting to the recent tragedy, Anand Kumar of Super 30 said students have become clients for coaching centres while adding that fees should be controlled
The Patna District Magistrate formed an investigation team to check all coaching centres across the district