FIITJEE, a coaching institute chain that prepares students for competitive exams such as Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), has shut down several centres across Delhi-NCR, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh over the past few weeks, leaving students and parents in a limbo.
The institute, which has 73 study centres across the country, has been facing a financial crisis, with staff at many branches resigning en masse. The centres closed include those situated in Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar and Noida Sector 62, as well as branches in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, Ghaziabad, LucknowVaranasi, Bhopal and Andheri, Kandivali, Thane and Navi mumbai in Maharashtra.
The coaching institute at Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar was shut around 10 days ago after parents filed an FIR, accusing the institute of abruptly halting operations and jeopardizing their children’s academic preparations. The first phase of the JEE (Main) examination began on January 22.
The FIITJEE management could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
In Delhi and NCR, the coaching institute charged over Rs 90,000 for a one-year classroom programme for students who have appeared in or passed their Class 12 exams.
In their complaint, parents have alleged that teachers at the Ghaziabad centre had not been paid their salaries. “The FIR was registered by the District School Inspector after which we began probing the matter,” said Ghaziabad Assistant Commissioner of Police Abhishek Srivastava.
Ghaziabad District School Inspector Dharmendra Sharma also said the FIITJEE institutes in Raj Nagar areas were running without proper license.
A police complaint was also filed at Preet Vihar police station in Delhi. A Delhi Police officer said, “We have received a complaint from a few parents. We are looking into the complaint.” Another police complaint was filed against the institute’s Kalu Sarai branch in South Delhi.
In Mumbai, three to four FIITJEE centres have been shut in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The Andheri centre is currently operating online with limited capacity, but the remaining centres were shut down in December after staff members submitted mass resignations.
The FIITJEE website lists its study centres to be situated across 17 States, including Delhi, UPHaryana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthanand Maharashtra. It was set up in 1992.
