dhankar – Central News Hub

Dhankar Slams Coaching Centres as ‘Gas Chambers’ Post Delhi Tragedy

During a short-duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Vice President Dhankhar criticised the incident, pointing out the pervasive issue of coaching centres prioritising profit over safety…reports Asian Lite News

Days after three UPSC aspirants lost their lives due to flooding in the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar area, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday expressed serious concerns over the commercialisation of coaching centres, calling them “gas chambers” for students.

On Saturday evening, three UPSC aspirants lost their lives after heavy rainfall led to waterlogging in the basement of the coaching centre, which was being used illegally as a library. The incident trapped 17 other students for several hours, highlighting the dire safety issues in these establishments.

During a short-duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Vice President Dhankhar criticised the incident, pointing out the pervasive issue of coaching centres prioritising profit over safety.

“This is a very serious issue. Every day when we read newspapers, we see the first few pages filled with advertisements for coaching centres. Where does so much money come from? It comes from the students who want to fulfil their dreams,” he said.

“Coaching centres have become no less than gas chambers,” the Rajya Sabha Chairman added.

Meanwhile, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi blamed the Delhi government for what he termed “criminal negligence”.

He alleged that despite knowing about the consequences, the students were put in a state of danger.

The basement of the coaching centre was used as a library in violation of the rules since the space was allowed to be used only for parking and storage purposes.

Citing the complaints lodged by the students, Trivedi said the authorities were “already informed and reminded” about the “illegal operation” of classes at the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle without proper non-objection certificate (NOC).

“Strict actions should be taken against all UPSC coaching institutes that are putting students’ lives in danger,” Trivedi said, quoting a letter by a student to the Ministry of Grievances, NCT Delhi, on June 26.

The Rajya Sabha MP also mentioned that a reminder was sent to the ministry on July 15 and July 22.

He also highlighted the need for immediate investigation and accountability to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.

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British lawmakers call on VP Dhankhar

This meeting came amid ‘The Times’ report, claiming India had stalled negotiations due to its concerns that the British government had failed to condemn the recent attack on the High Commission in London by pro-Khalistan supporters…reports Asian Lite News

A Parliamentary delegation from the United Kingdom called on Vice President Jagadeep Dhankhar on Tuesday and held discussions on historical, business and people-to-people ties between both countries.

Taking Twitter, the Vice President said, “A parliamentary delegation from UK, co-led by Baroness Verma and Lord Karan Bilimoria called on Hon’ble Vice President, Shri Jagadeep Dhankhar today. Discussion touched upon historical, business and people-to-people ties as they resolved to take the India-UK relationship to greater heights.” The delegation also met Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya Scindia, on Tuesday, and had a discussion on enhancing trade ties, strengthening bilateral agreements, safety and security, and India’s G20 leadership.

London-based newspaper, The Times, in its April 10 edition, cited senior British government sources to report that the Indian government has “disengaged” from talks for a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the UK and had made it clear that there would be no progress “without a public condemnation of the Khalistan movement.”

However, government sources in New Delhi denied the “baseless” report.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the UK Department for Business and Trade on April 10 said British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly condemned the recent acts of violence at the Indian High Commission in London, adding that Metropolitan Police were reviewing security and changes were being made to ensure safety,

Cleverly also said that both UK and India are committed to delivering an ambitious and mutually beneficial Foreign Trade Agreement and concluded the latest round of trade talks last month, the spokesperson said.

The India-UK Free Trade Agreement talks were launched on June 17, 2022.

On March 19 this year, protesters holding Khalistan banners staged a demonstration outside the High Commission in London. One of the protestors climbed up its balcony and pulled down the Tricolour. The protest was being held to denounce the recent police action in Punjab.

In a video of the incident, which has since gone viral on social media, a protestor is seen on the balcony attempting to bring down the Indian flag. At the end of the video, another man is seen reaching the balcony and wrestling the Tricolour back from the Khalistan supporter.

Earlier, India also had summoned the senior-most British diplomat UK diplomat, deputy high commissioner Christina Scott, to lodge a protest.

“It is expected that the UK Government would take immediate steps to identify, arrest and prosecute each one of those involved in today’s incident, and put in place stringent measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” read an official press release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had recently said that India expects to see more action, than just assurance and hoped that foreign governments will act against and prosecute those involved in the incident. (ANI)

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