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"My books are locked in the library. They just sealed it overnight. They are not picking up our calls or responding to messages. Losing access to the library is one thing, but how can I study without my books?" asks Kanika (name changed), a 28-year-old FMGE (Foreign Medical Graduate Exam) aspirant, living in Delhi's Gautam Nagar.
Situated close to some of India's biggest government hospitals – All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Safdarjung Hospital, and Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute – and home to several renowned coaching centres, Gautam Nagar has long been a hub for students preparing for medical entrance exams.
But ripples of the tragic incident at Rau's IAS coaching centre in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar that took the lives of three UPSC aspirants after its basement-library got flooded, can be felt throughout the medical students-dominated area.
Since the incident, state and central authorities have gone on an overdrive, identifying and sealing libraries and coaching classes operating out of basements.
"There must be around 60 to 65 basement-libraries here, but in the last couple of days, they have all been shut, sealed, and their boards have been removed. It's like they never existed."Dr Bibhu Anand, a medical specialist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
The Quint spent a day in Gautam Nagar where several medical students alleged that they been blindsided by the move – and left with no alternatives.
'We Are Distressed, Don't Know What to Do': Voices from Delhi's Gautam Nagar
Delhi's Gautam Nagar is to medicos what Mukherjee Nagar and Old Rajinder Nagar are to UPSC aspirants.
"Roughly 20,000 doctors preparing for NEET-PG and FMGE exams live and study here," says Dr Bhibu Anand. The National Joint Secretary of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), Dr Anand also prepared for the NEET-PG exam in Gautam Nagar just a couple of years ago.
Every sign board, poster, flyer, and pamphlet stuck on the grimy walls flanking the narrow winding streets of Gautam Nagar calls to medical students – PGs, rooms for rent, coaching centres, canteens, and libraries. Except, all mention of the last and most important one – libraries, which were mostly operating out of basements – has been wiped away from the area as of the last few days.
"It's difficult to say which of these doors has a library behind it," Dr Anand adds, leading The Quint to a nondescript narrow red metal door at the corner of a residential building.
A narrow entryway leading to a basement library in Gautam Nagar.
(Photo: sourced by The Quint)
"I just got the library membership a day before (on 30 July). I went there the next day, and it was closed. I've been calling them since then but they're not picking up or replying to my messages. It's a huge problem for us now," says Shreya, a 27-year-old who moved to Delhi from Haryana just last week to prepare for the FMGE exam in December. FMGE is a licensing exam for Indian medical graduates who have studied abroad to practice in India.
Many other doctors that The Quint spoke to echoed Shreya, saying they were given little to no notice about the move.
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"They sent a message saying that the library will be closed, but didn't say for how long or till when."Shreya, FMGE aspirant
Others like Rohan (27) and Aman (29), two doctors who did their MBBS from Kyrgyzstan and are preparing for FMGE, don't have any contact information for library owners or operators that they can reach out to for answers.
"We gave the money and enrolled ourselves with a man who sat at the desk up front. He was our only point of contact. Now that the library is shut, we have no way of contacting him or getting answers," Rohan tells The Quint.
Things are made worse by the fact that the NEET-PG exams are a week away on 11 August. "It's already been very stressful for us this year," says Dr Rajeev Ranjan who is preparing for the NEET-PG exam.
"If we were able to study in the rooms, why would we pay thousands to join libraries? We need the Wi-Fi in the libraries to study," he says, adding that because of the closure of libraries, many students who moved here are now going back to their hometowns.
According to Shreya, she hasn't got back the Rs 2,250 she paid for the library membership, nor any word of a possible refund.
"I can only ask them about a refund if they pick up my calls. It's only been a couple of days, but if this continues, I will lodge a police complaint."Shreya, FMGE aspirant
While the word on the street is that they have been "closed for optics" and that they will reopen in a few days, no confirmation has been given to students by the library owners or operators.
The Quint tried reaching out to several libraries in the area but got no response.
‘Why Are We Being Punished for What Happened in Old Rajinder Nagar?'
According to the locals, the overnight sealing of the basement-libraries is a direct response to the tragic incident that happened in Old Rajinder Nagar.
"I saw some municipality officials come here and take note of the basement libraries in the area. They have sealed them from inside," Jai Bahadur, a security guard in one of the buildings in the area, alleges to The Quint.
Others in the area believe that most of the libraries were pre-emptively closed down by the owners themselves – fearing a crackdown by the MCD, like in other parts of the city. The Quint couldn't independently verify either of the claims.
However, responding to The Quint over a text message, an MCD official confirmed that the area was inspected, and that show cause notices have been issued to the libraries operating out of basements. "Basement is not allowed for running a library or reading hall. It can only be used for household storage," he adds.
In the meantime, in the absence of clear answers, students have been left frustrated.
Dr Anand tells The Quint that several students feel that responding to the incident in another part of town by taking action here isn't justified.
"They are saying, 'Why should we have to suffer because of something that happened in a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar?'"Dr Bibhu Anand, National Joint Secretary of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA)
The students don't believe a blanket move to shut down basement libraries will help, instead, it's only causing more trouble.
Speaking to The Quint, Dr Amar Singh* (name changed), another NEET-PG aspirant, says that he's been on the lookout for a new library to join, but nothing has worked out. The few overground libraries that are still functional are either full or have hiked up their fees in the last couple of days.
"They used to charge around Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 for library access. Now they are charging Rs 5,000 and upwards. I'm still looking for a place."Dr Amar Singh (name changed)
"There isn't any space to make more libraries above ground. Besides, waterlogging isn't an issue in this area. It rained so heavily yesterday (31 July), and there was no waterlogging because it all flows towards the canal nearby. So, a situation like there (Old Rajinder Nagar) is not likely to happen here," says Dr Singh.
He adds, "There are other issues we face in this place like sanitation and safety hazards like loose livewires that are still being ignored."
Entrance to a (now sealed) basement library surrounded by a tangled mess of live wires.
(Photo: Anoushka Rajesh/The Quint)
Three UPSC aspirants – 29-year-old Nevin Dalvin from Kerala, Tanya Soni (21) from Telangana, and Shreya Yadav (25) from Uttar Pradesh allegedly drowned on Saturday, 27 July after the underground library at Rau's IAS coaching centre was flooded after heavy waterlogging in the area. Read more about them here.
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