NEW DELHI: The civil service aspirants, protesting against the death of their three fellow mates by drowning at a UPSC coaching centre in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar area, on Tuesday said that the high-powered committee formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to probe into the tragedy should also interact with the students of the area.
“We have been protesting here for the last three days. It is we who face hardship. The committee members should first consult us before coming to any conclusion,” a student protestor sitting outside the Rau’s IAS study coaching centre told this newspaper.
At least five among them went on a hunger strike in the evening after they felt that the authorities were not taking them seriously. “We had already decided in the morning to go on a hunger strike if our demands are not met,” the protestor said.
Three young IAS aspirants, all in their 20s, were killed after they got trapped in a pool of water that gushed into the basement of a civil service coaching centre in central Delhi following heavy rains on July 27.
The students have since then been protesting against the authorities and demanding adequate compensation for the victim families along with stern action against those alleged officials whose laxity led to the tragedy.
On Monday, the MHA formed a high-level committee drawing officials from various central ministries and the Delhi government to inquire into the incident. It has been mandated to inquire into the reasons, fix responsibility and suggest measures to ensure that such tragic incident does not reoccur in future.