Jaipur: Regarding the safety measures, there is more or less the same story of the coaching centers of major coaching hubs of Jaipur, Sikar, and Kota in Rajasthan.
Most of them are violating the norms and as often happens, the administration wakes up only after an accident occurs, the same is happening here too. In Jaipur, the Police Commissioner has sought information from all the police stations about the security measures in the coaching centers running in their area, whereas in Kota, the libraries running in the basements are being seized.
Coaching Centres In Rajasthan
The coaching centers are running in almost every. City of Rajasthan but Kota, Jaipur, and Sikar are the major coaching hubs. Kota is known for its preparation for the NEET-IIT entrance exam. The Capital city of Jaipur has centers for all types of coaching right from the preparation of civil services to government recruitments and the NEET-IIT entrance exam, while Sikar has emerged as a new coaching hub, especially for government recruitments.
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Kota has been a coaching hub for decades and students from every corner of the country come to study here. The big brands have all the facilities and fulfill all the norms, but the problem is with small coaching centers as they have limited resources. In some places, classes are being held in the basement of the building, while some have libraries or reading rooms.
Not only the coaching centers but the hostels and PGs are also running libraries or reading rooms in the basements of their buildings.
Most of the hostels and other residential buildings located in Jawahar Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Coral Park, Landmark etc. in the city have made basements in their homes.
There are more than 400 basements. Earlier, most of them used to have messes, but after the incidents of fire in the messes and considering safety, now the fire NOC is being issued only after taking an undertaking of not using the basements for mess or other commercial activities. When the corporation closed the mess, the basement remained vacant, so the operators gave it on lease for the library and other works. The students who do not have a separate room or suitable environment for studies in house, hostel or PG, they go to these libraries or reading rooms to study. There are facilities for internet, Wi-Fi, AC-fan, light etc.
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Most of the basements are in narrow lanes and have no emergency exits. Electrical panels and wires are lying open and seepage from the drain is coming inside.
Talking of Jaipur, most of the coaching centers in the city are in Tonk Phatak and Gopalpura Road area with hundreds of hostels and PGs running in almost the same situation as Kota.
A Separate Coaching Hub Developed In Pratap Nagar Of Jaipur
The government has developed a separate coaching hub with all the required facilities in the Pratap Nagar area of the city, but the coaching centers are not ready to move there as the present location is in the middle of the city.
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“The government has developed a coaching hub, but we have bought our present premises at very high rates, and now it is not possible for us to buy other premises in the coaching hub," said a coaching center owner on anonymity.
Sikar is comparatively a small city but emerging as a big hub of coaching for government recruitments, but the coaching centers here lack basic facilities for the students. There is water logging in the streets of coaching centers. These streets are so narrow that the fire brigade vehicles will not be able to enter.
However, the administration has awakened after the incident in Delhi and action is being taken on the building that is not fulfilling the norms.
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Rakesh Vyas, the Chief Fire Officer of Kota Municipal Corporation said that security arrangements are being reviewed. The teams of the municipal corporation have seized 14 libraries running in the basement. The action has been taken at those places where there is a possibility of water logging and there is a drain passing nearby.
In Jaipur, the Additional Commissioner of Police Kunwar Rashtradeep has directed all the police stations to send a report regarding the safety arrangements in the coaching centers in their areas in two days. Some mobile numbers have also been made public where a complaint can be lodged regarding the violation of safety norms.