Mukherjee Nagar, a neighbourhood in north Delhi that was named in honour of Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, is also considered one of two coaching hubs of the national capital, apart from Rajinder Nagar in Karol Bagh.
The streets of Mukherjee Nagar are filled with bookshops, fast food eateries, clothes shops, juice corners, PGs and other things that meet the demand of students who have joined coaching institutes to pursue their dreams. This place of the city has given hundreds of civil servants to the country. Apart from imparting coaching for civil services, the tutoring centres also focus on providing quality education for those who are preparing for the bank, railways and other competitive government exams. The technology to impart online education to aspiring students looking for government jobs, after Covid-19, has somehow affected the business of those coaching institutes.
However, during the daytime, what could be observed is thousands of students coming out of their coaching institutes and discussing the lessons taught during the classes. About 90 per cent of the houses in that area have been converted into PG accommodation. It is said that after India’s partition in 1947, thousands of refugees came to Delhi and were rehabilitated in colonies of Kingsway Camp, an avenue which was built as a predecessor to the construction of the residence of the Viceroy of India, now termed as Mukherjee Nagar. Recently, Mukherjee Nagar was the talk of the town.
A few weeks back, a major fire broke out in a Girls’ PG of that area and all around 35 girls, who were in the building, were rescued. Cracking down on those properties that do not have fire NOC and illegal construction among the issues, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), a few days back, sealed multiple properties in the neighbourhood, among which many are coaching institutes.
Weeks after the fire at the coaching centre, triggering alarm among students and stakeholders, the MCD on October 8 sealed 16 properties, including nine coaching institutes, in the area for allegedly violating fire safety norms.“We have sealed as many as 16 properties out of which 9 are coaching institutes,” a MCD official said.