Delhi Coaching Tragedy: Drishti IAS' Vikas Divyakirti Fumes Out Over Allegations Made Against Him

Oneindia

In the wake of the tragic incident at Delhi’s Rau's IAS Study Circle, where three UPSC aspirants lost their lives, Dr. Vikas Divyakirti, founder and MD of Drishti IAS, addresses the controversy surrounding his coaching center's basement sealing.       #DrVikasDivyakirti #DrishtiIAS #DelhiCoachingCentre #BuildingSafety #EducationalInstitutes #UPSCTragedy #DrishtiIASControversy #SafetyProtocols #DelhiNews #EducationCrisis                   ~HT.97~PR.274~ED.101~

Transcript

00:00The reason why I am worried is that in such cases,

00:03every sacrifice is needed.

00:06I avoid making the same mistake over and over again.

00:11Like social media is doing.

00:13It took me only 50 seconds or a minute to go from my waist to my head.

00:20It was such a short time that none of us could have imagined it.

00:27The reason why I am worried is that in such cases,

00:31every sacrifice is needed.

00:35It makes things a little easier.

00:38It makes it easier for the administration to say,

00:41we are safe, let's name one person.

00:45The society also understands a simple thing,

00:48that okay, we found one person, he was responsible.

00:50They are satisfied that we found the culprit.

00:54And the competitors feel that this is a good opportunity.

01:00In this, the score should be settled, the accounts should be settled.

01:04The children, the emotional turbulence they are going through,

01:09the reason for their anger is that why am I not standing with them.

01:13So the children's anger is justified.

01:16But the action of sealing, I think it took place at more than 50 institutes.

01:22We also have a name in that.

01:25But maybe they had more hope than me, so they felt bad, they were hurt.

01:32So all the anger is on me.

01:36And I am very satisfied with this.

01:39I feel good that all the anger is on me.

01:43At least I am sure that they believe that I have to stand with them

01:50and stand in the right direction.

01:53So I am grateful that they got so angry on me.

01:57Why did the media get angry?

02:00Because the channels need views, and those who get views,

02:04I have been getting views for a while now.

02:08So they get more views by writing my name and abusing me.

02:12That's why my name is at the top.

02:15So everyone has their own reasons.

02:17In the fight for freedom, everyone had their own reasons.

02:20Their name was freedom.

02:22Liberation from the British.

02:24In this matter also, everyone has their own reasons.

02:27But everyone has a convenient name to abuse them.

02:33Do something like virtual mob lynching.

02:36And we get happiness when we abuse someone.

02:41So everyone is behind this.

02:43Everyone has their own reasons.

02:46It's okay.

02:47When YouTube and social media gave me fame in the last 3-4 years,

02:53I got fame for free for 3-4 years.

02:55So what happens is that when we get something,

02:58we feel that we deserve it.

03:00And when something goes against us, we feel that why is it happening to me?

03:04So the reason people loved me so much,

03:09the same reason people got so angry on me.

03:12People are absolutely fine.

03:14Anger is absolutely justified.

03:16But I have my own reason as to why I got so angry.

03:19Your second question is that why didn't I protest for so long?

03:24There are two reasons for this.

03:25One is my nature.

03:26Because I am not very emotional and expressive.

03:33Three children died.

03:36A painful death.

03:39Since that day, we have been in my house.

03:41You must be surprised.

03:43In the last two days, I am not as worried as I used to be.

03:47All the channels are after me.

03:49I am not as worried as I used to be.

03:52People in my family are surprised that I am so normal.

03:59I am more worried about another thing.

04:02When we talk at home for 3 days,

04:04I go to sleep.

04:06I reach near to sleep.

04:08So I get an image again and again that

04:10what those children must have gone through when the water was full.

04:13Because it happened once or twice that

04:15while swimming in the river, the water got filled in the nose.

04:18For a few seconds.

04:19They drowned and died.

04:20I mean, they survived.

04:21It is so painful.

04:23Those 2-3-5 seconds.

04:25We got free in 2-3-5 seconds.

04:27We got out of it.

04:28But those children, for at least 1-1.5-2 minutes,

04:31I don't know how long it takes.

04:33But it must have been this much.

04:35They must have suffered.

04:37When the last link of hope was broken.

04:40When they climbed on the table to survive.

04:42When the water was so full.

04:44My main concern in this whole process is to feel that experience.

04:51And that is pain.

04:52So in such pain, I don't know their parents.

04:55How can I talk to them?

04:57How can I meet them?

05:00The students who are in the movement right now.

05:03All their talks are valid.

05:05But the age they are in.

05:07The anger they are in.

05:09There is a little bit of fear that

05:11even if we go and talk to them,

05:13will they listen to the whole thing or not?

05:16It is good that today I have met 3-4 such children.

05:19I am coming from a meeting.

05:21LG sir had called me for a meeting.

05:23Some children had also come.

05:25He was in the honours of many institutes.

05:29He was also a senior officer of the Delhi government.

05:31From DDA, MCD, fire department.

05:34He was also the chief secretary of the Delhi government.

05:38So there I met some children.

05:40Not one-to-one, but during the meeting.

05:45Now I feel that it is easier.

05:48Maybe I will meet children today or tomorrow.

05:50He will go to UPSC and become a civil servant.

05:53Shreya Yadav, Tanya Soni and Nivin Dalvin.

05:56These 3 children have drowned in the water.

05:58No one would have even thought.

06:00No one would have even dreamed that these 3 children will drown and die.

06:03Someone must be held responsible.

06:05Somewhere or the other, that buck will stop.

06:07Somewhere or the other, accountability will be fixed.

06:09Absolutely right.

06:10Was it the fault of MCD? Was it the fault of the government?

06:13Whose fault was it?

06:14I mean, I avoid the fact that

06:16we blame someone for all the mistakes.

06:19Like social media is blaming me.

06:21If you want to blame someone, do it.

06:23But I won't.

06:24Whose fault is it?

06:26I think one flaw is that

06:28there is a lack of coordination between different laws and different agencies.

06:32Everyone's intentions are right.

06:34If there was a little coordination,

06:36like today's meeting,

06:38a very good proposal was given by one person,

06:41which was immediately accepted by LJ sir.

06:43All of us said, sir,

06:45make a committee where we sit and explain everything.

06:49Then whatever you order,

06:51whatever rules you make,

06:53just give us 10-15 days.

06:55If you don't agree with that rule,

06:57close it.

06:58We are ready to do it.

07:00We also need clarity about the rules.

07:02If you want to take responsibility for this incident,

07:05I think the first problem is this.

07:07Corruption is definitely there.

07:09There is nothing to say.

07:11If you watch that day's video,

07:13I was very upset watching that video.

07:18There is a lot of water on the road.

07:21The level of the basement is very close to the level of the road.

07:25It is not a high basement.

07:27It is a basement of the same level.

07:29There is a lot of danger that if the water spills,

07:32it will go inside.

07:34A jeep passed by in the meantime.

07:36And I found out today that

07:38there was a big panel there to stop the water from going inside.

07:41And the children were sitting inside the library.

07:44As soon as that jeep passed by,

07:46the water spilled heavily.

07:48And that water broke the temporary road.

07:51So the water started going inside.

07:53Even then, we were confused about how so much water went inside.

07:56Because if there were 30-40 children,

07:58and we saw the water coming,

08:00then maybe there was a way to get out.

08:02First, the door closed,

08:04which happened due to the biometrics.

08:06This was a very big problem.

08:08Second, what those children told me today at that meeting,

08:11was that

08:13the water was going at a particular speed,

08:15and the children were going out.

08:17And it was assumed that they would go out.

08:19They were taking books with them.

08:21Because the water was so much that they thought

08:23that if they leave the books, nothing will be left.

08:25In the meantime, the exhaust fan,

08:27which was the area,

08:29also broke due to the water.

08:31And as soon as it broke,

08:33the entire bundle of water went inside at once.

08:36And what I understood from those children,

08:39that from the water up to the waist,

08:41to the top of the head,

08:43maybe it took 50 seconds or a minute.

08:46It was such a short time,

08:48that maybe none of us

08:50would have been able to think or get out.

08:53Then,

08:55LG sir also said a very good thing in that,

08:57that the sewer lines there,

08:59were covered by illegal construction,

09:01by encroachment.

09:03This is also a problem.

09:05Encroachments are not like that.

09:07In that also, somewhere,

09:09someone must have been involved.

09:11I used to believe that

09:13the basement should have been a little higher.

09:15But today I have come to know that

09:17the new rules,

09:19in which stilt parking is necessary,

09:21there is a rule of 8 cm.

09:23I don't know if it is a rule or not.

09:25Generally, it is like that.

09:27But maybe that is why basements

09:29are not made very high in Delhi.

09:31With all this,

09:33I openly believe that

09:35the coaching institutes have a big responsibility.

09:37We also have a responsibility.

09:39It is a coincidence that the accident happened somewhere.

09:41But,

09:43we should understand in a notional sense,

09:45that the accident could have happened anywhere.

09:47To rectify this,

09:49is the responsibility of the institute.

09:51I am ready to fulfill my part of the responsibility.

09:53I am also ready.

09:55And I am making it clear in front of you,

09:57that in any case,

09:59the things that are not allowed in Delhi,

10:01we will not do that.

10:03And even if we have to leave Delhi,

10:05even if we have to go somewhere,

10:07we will work only in the improved buildings.

10:09Let me finish here.

10:11You may feel that I am saying a very big thing.

10:13I am saying this openly.

10:17In the matter of building safety norms,

10:19the intensity with which we try,

10:21I have faith that

10:23you will not get the same intensity anywhere.

10:25If you want,

10:27I will show you something in my WhatsApp.

10:29We have one,

10:31I don't know what other institutes do.

10:33I am telling you about myself.

10:352-3 months ago,

10:37we took out a vacancy.

10:39Because 1.5 years ago,

10:41we made a divisional head rank officer in our company.

10:43Divisional head is the senior management part.

10:45Who will only look after the safety of the buildings.

10:47His only job was to look after the safety of the buildings.

10:51In January 2023,

10:53we made a WhatsApp group.

10:55I am a member of that group.

10:57What is the work of that group?

10:5916 points are written in it.

11:01In which it is written that

11:03all doors are open,

11:05fire exit is clean,

11:07roof doors are open,

11:09children can go out if there is an emergency.

11:11There are 16 points in it.

11:13On these 16 points,

11:15our building in-charge

11:17every day,

11:19I am not talking about a month,

11:21I am talking about every day.

11:23An update has to be put

11:25that I have checked all 16 points,

11:27they are all fine.

11:29If there is any problem after this,

11:31this happens every day.

11:33If you want to see the WhatsApp,

11:35you can see it after this.

11:37This happens every day for every building.

11:39Apart from this,

11:413 months ago, we took out a vacancy.

11:432 months ago, at the end of May,

11:45there was a person,

11:47whose name is Fire and Safety Officer.

11:49What is his job?

11:51For 14 years,

11:53he has worked in big malls,

11:55in big hospitals,

11:57in hospitals like Fortis,

11:59he has worked for Fire and Safety.

12:01He is on the payroll of Drishti.

12:03His only job is

12:05to audit all the buildings,

12:07and if there is any problem in terms of safety,

12:09to rectify it.

12:11Under him, we have appointed

12:13fire marshals in our buildings.

12:15So that if there is a fire problem,

12:17our normal staff is trained.

12:19It is our rule that whenever a staff joins,

12:21MTS, Multitasking Staff joins,

12:23within 7 days,

12:25his fire training takes place.

12:27Apart from this,

12:29we are appointing fire marshals in every building,

12:31so that if there is a fire,

12:33because they are trained,

12:35they will extinguish the fire immediately,

12:37whereas other people may not be able to extinguish it immediately.

12:39In every classroom, in every office,

12:41we have installed fire extinguishers,

12:43which are constantly refilled.

12:45I would like you to get a chance,

12:47if you can do a survey,

12:49outside Delhi or outside Delhi,

12:51in any of our branches,

12:53in any classroom,

12:55if there are at least two exits,

12:57then I am responsible.

12:59We do not rent such buildings,

13:01which do not have a fire exit.

13:03In many buildings, you will see,

13:05there is a very big iron fire exit,

13:07whether in Karunbagh, Jaipur or Allahabad.

13:09That is our condition.

13:11In Indore,

13:13it took us 1.5 years extra,

13:15just because

13:17we could not find a single building

13:19where there are two exits.

13:21We talked to a landlord,

13:23and got a building built on the plot,

13:25with two fire exits.

13:27And we started working there,

13:29two years late,

13:31just because

13:33we did not want to compromise

13:35the lives of children or staff.

13:37This is our intention.

13:39We made a mistake.

13:41I apologize to the entire country,

13:43to the entire society,

13:45that yes, we made a mistake.

13:47We will not make that mistake again.

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