The Delhi government has instructed coaching centres across the capital to adhere to mandatory safety regulations and warned that those failing to meet the requirements will not be permitted to continue
operations. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday announced that all coaching centres have been given a one-month deadline to meet prescribed safety standards, while the government prepares a comprehensive law to regulate the sector and strengthen student safety, reported PTI.
“Whether there are 900 or 1,000 coaching institutes in Delhi does not matter. What matters is the lives, safety and security of the children studying there,” Gupta said in a video message.
She also urged students to report any negligence or lack of safety measures in their coaching centres through email, phone or messages, assuring that the government would take prompt action.
The move follows a series of fire incidents, including the recent blaze at a coaching centre in Lucknow that claimed 15 lives, prompting authorities to tighten oversight of educational institutes.
Education Minister Ashish Sood said the government has ordered a citywide inspection of all 924 coaching centres in Delhi. Institutes that had previously been served notices for violating safety norms and continue to remain non-compliant will be sealed, while first-time violators will receive notices and a one-month window to rectify deficiencies, he told the news agency.
Sood said the government has accepted the recommendations of the Justice Guaba Committee and has constituted a panel under the Director of Higher Education to prepare a robust regulatory framework for coaching centres. The proposed law, expected to be placed in the public domain within the next three months, will cover structural and fire safety, operational standards, teacher qualifications, quality benchmarks and advertising guidelines.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been designated as the nodal agency for the enforcement drive and will begin a comprehensive survey of the coaching centres from July 1.
Officials said inspection teams will assess compliance using an 18-point checklist covering building plans, occupancy certificates, fire no-objection certificates (NOCs), basement usage, emergency exits, staircases, road access, student capacity and other safety parameters. The survey will also document ownership details, floor-wise building use, student strength and any enforcement action required.
The crackdown is already underway. According to MCD officials, 36 coaching centre properties have been sealed this month, while nine others have been issued show-cause notices for violating safety and building norms. Authorities said the action targets unauthorised coaching centres operating without the required approvals in residential and commercial buildings, with more properties currently under scrutiny.
Delhi Mayor Pravesh Wahi said inspection drives are already in progress across the city, with authorities taking action against unsafe buildings through sealing drives and demolition of unauthorised structures.
When Coaching Centres Were Found In The Middle Of Paper Leaks
The investigations into recent NEET and competitive exam paper leaks revealed a troubling pattern — the alleged involvement of not just individual criminals, but a wider network that includes coaching centres as well.
The latest NEET paper leak investigation uncovered a racket operating through a coaching centre in Maharashtra’s Latur district, a region known as one of India’s major hubs for medical entrance preparation. At the centre of the investigation is accused Shivraj Motegaonkar, whose coaching centre, RCC Institute, was allegedly operating the network through a payment system based on results.
According to investigators, parents were allegedly asked to make small advance payments before the examination. The remaining amount was reportedly collected only after students confirmed that several questions from the circulated question bank matched those appearing in the actual NEET paper.
During the 2024 NEET paper leak investigation, officials reportedly found that in several cases, coaching centre staff allegedly assisted candidates in changing their exam city or centre at the last minute.
Although the National Testing Agency (NTA) claimed that candidates did not have the option to change their exam centre, investigators alleged that some exam centre employees were working in coordination with those accused of orchestrating leaks. According to officials familiar with the probe, these employees allegedly provided access to strong rooms where question paper trunks were stored and helped in opening them before the examination using various tools.
Another security breach surfaced during the CSIR UGC NET examination held on July 26 in 2024. A centre in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, was reportedly found compromised after information was shared with the NTA by the state police’s Special Task Force (STF).
