New Delhi [India]: Dr Vikas Divyakirti, founder and MD of Drishti IAS said that he is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of his students and the kind of efforts put in by him for the building safety norms would not be found anywhere else.
In an exclusive interview with media, Divyakirti said, “‘Building safety norms me jitni shiddat se ham koshish karte hai, mujhe bharosa hai ki utni shiddat aapko kahi nahi milegi.’ (The kind of effort we put in the matter of building safety norms, I am sure that you will not find it anywhere).”
Notably, three UPSC students lost their lives after drowning in the flooded basement library of a coaching centre in Delhi’s Old Rajendra Nagar.
Elaborating on the measures taken by him for the safety of the buildings, he said, “We appointed a divisional head rank officer 1.5 years ago, who only looks after the safety of the building. In January 2023, we created a WhatsApp group, I am its member, and the work of that group is to check 16 points whether the doors are open, the fire exit is clear, there is no obstruction on it, the roof doors are open so that in case of an emergency, students can be taken out. These 16 points are checked daily.”
The Drishti IAS founder further said that all the branches of the coaching institute, whether in Delhi or outside, have at least two exit gates. “I would like you to go to any of our branches in Delhi or outside Delhi, if any building does not have at least two exits, then I am responsible. We do not take such buildings on rent which do not have fire exits.”
Divyakirti further noted that it took him 1.5 years to launch coaching in Indore due to the difficulty in finding a building that met his safety standards, specifically one equipped with two exit gates. “It took us 1.5 extra years in Indore because not even a single building was built which had two exits. We constructed a building on a plot with two fire exits and started the work there. The work there started two years late only because the life of any child or staff should not be compromised under any circumstances.
He also spoke on the classes being run in basements and said, “There is a lot of resentment about basements these days and I agree that basements should be sealed. But the Delhi metro is run in the basement only, the Palika Bazaar is run in the basement, and shopping complexes in most malls in Delhi continue to operate in the basement. Lakhs of people do shopping there because those basements are built properly.”