Alarm: Government sits over safety audit of coaching institutes
DDC’s fail to submit report sought by government
Srinagar: The J&K government has shelved the safety audit of the coaching centres across Kashmir which was ordered by the divisional administration over a month ago.
The safety audit of the coaching institutes was ordered after fire engulfed the four-storey building housing a coaching centre at the third floor in Sarthana area of Surat in Gujarat. The deadly blaze left 20 students dead due to suffocation or falling off the windows in an attempt to escape the devastating fire.
“The incident set alarm bells ringing for the J&K government about the safety of the students opting for coaching in the private coaching centres. The administration had ordered for a safety audit of these coaching centres which however, was later shelved,” a top official said.
Notably, after the incident the divisional administration had ordered for conduct of fire safety audit of all the coaching centres and private schools functioning in the valley. The instructions in this regard were given on May 26 to all the deputy commissioners and the officials in education department.
“The deputy commissioners and the officials in the directorate of education were supposed to submit the report in a week’s time. But nothing was submitted by any of the Deputy Commissioner so far,” the official said.
Pertinently, there are over 500 private coaching centres in Kashmir including more than 150 in Srinagar and as many as 60,000 students opting for private coaching in these institutes every year.
The fire incident in Surat had raised concern about the safety of these students visiting these coaching centres and private schools for studying.
“The administration had decided to set regulation after reports will be submitted by concerned DCs. But the issues was hushed up for unknown reasons,” an official said.
As per norms, the private schools and coaching centres are given registration by the education department after checking all the credential including the NoC from the fire and emergency department. All these facilities are rechecked and reviewed after a period of five years by the department.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Khan didn’t respond to calls from this newspaper.
KV Correspondent
