Bihar gov't calls for strict compliance of norms by coaching centres after Delhi tragedy

Today, Wednesday, July 31, the Bihar Education Department said instructions have been issued to officials concerned to ensure strict compliance with rules and regulations by coaching institutes across the state, which have come under scrutiny following the coaching centre flooding incident in Delhi. This was stated in a report by PTI.

Additional Chief Secretary (Education) S Siddharth said the framing of rules under the Bihar Coaching Institutes (Control and Regulation) Act, which had been delayed due to legal disputes, “is being spruced up” to facilitate compliance with the norms.

Furthermore, while speaking to PTI, Siddharth said, “DMs across Bihar must ensure strict compliance with the rules by coaching centres in their respective districts. Action should be initiated against those who don't adhere to the existing norms."

He further added, "They (coaching centres) must provide facilities to students as per prescribed standards."

The district administration in Patna has also ordered scrutiny of all coaching institutes, "which are operating in violation of the norms".

In addition to this, the state capital attracts students from far-off places, who aspire to crack engineering, medical and Civil Services exams.

“Keeping Delhi's incident in mind, we have directed officials in all sub-divisions to verify documents of coaching centres, including mandatory permission and necessary no-objection certificates,” Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh told PTI.

"I have also called a meeting of owners of all coaching institutes in Patna today to discuss these matters. We will provide a timeframe to ensure that they obtain all required permissions,” Singh added.

To contextualise, three students recently died after water from a flooded drain gushed into the library in the basement of a coaching centre in Old Rajender Nagar.