New Delhi: A group of students huddle on the steps of a library at Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar, planning their future. But they’re not discussing UPSC exams or the changes they will usher in when they finally become IAS officers. They’re talking about Noida these days. Their dreams are shifting to a new address.
Noida is primed to topple Mukherjee Nagar as the go-to hub for UPSC preparation in Delhi-NCR. First, Drishti IAS, a leading coaching institute with around 15,000 students, announced that it would be moving to Noida permanently. Now, others have started scouting for new space.
With that, Delhi’s primary epicentre of UPSC culture is set to be dismantled. The familiar sounds of touts and riksha-walahs muttering ‘Batra, Batra, Batra’ and ‘UPSC, UPSC, UPSC’ are fading away.
Students are no longer thronging around eateries and stationery shops. Coaching institutes are seeing only a trickle of new entrants at the peak of admission season. Even paying guest accommodations have room to spare.
Change is sweeping through the congested lanes of Mukherjee Nagar.
“Yes, coaching institutes are moving, but how do you move the culture of this place? It takes years to develop. Women can walk out of libraries at 2 am. People can always find aspirants on the streets here, even during the coldest winters,” said Pushpendra Srivastava, 47. He came to Mukherjee Nagar as a young man, and never left. Now, he is a ‘bhaiya’ who doles out advice to young aspirants while teaching at an institute.
“It is easier to move coaching institutes and people, but it’s impossible to move culture because it is built over time with people and places,” said Srivastava, who has seen Mukherjee Nagar evolve into a thriving coaching hub that heaves with the dreams, sweat, and tears of lakhs of aspirants.
My folding bed barely fit, and I used to place all my books on the shelves. I was selected from there and prepared for the mains and interview from that very kitchen. That’s Mukherjee Nagar for me
-Awanish Sharan, IAS officer
But all that is changing. Familiar sights—like the boarded-up Batra Cinema and the frenetic 24×7 cycle of chai-parantha, stationery shops, and coaching institutes around it—are retreating into the past. And on a deeper level, there is a predominant sentiment across the UPSC coaching hub that something intangible is going to be lost too.
This storied Mukherjee Nagar culture has calcified over decades. It is the pincode of ambition. It contains multitudes of meanings. It’s a symbol of the endless grit and determination of youth to crack the formidable UPSC examination. But it also signifies an India where power and position are still defined by the traditional path of securing a government job. Mukherjee Nagar stands at the cusp of old and new India. One that craves risk-free government jobs but is also willing to take enormous risks to get there. With an organic ecosystem of coaching classes, libraries, and dingy study rooms, the area has morphed into a joyless treadmill of prelims-mains-rinse-repeat. It is also where the powerful nexus of the over Rs 3,000-crore coaching institute industry rules unfettered and without scrutiny. Until now.
There’s an undercurrent of tension now—reflected in the empty pavements and shops. Already, small entrepreneurs like stationery and book shop owners, juice vendors, and landlords, are seeing a drop in business.
The shift began barely a month after three students died when a ‘basement library’ in Old Rajinder Nagar—another coaching hub—flooded during a spate of heavy July rain. That tragedy, and a series of accidents over the years, from fires to electrocutions at neighbourhood coaching hubs, have jumpstarted the change now threatening Mukherjee Nagar’s identity.
“It’s long overdue what is happening in Mukherjee Nagar. It should have been done earlier,” declared Vijender Chauhan, an assistant professor at Delhi University who was immersed in this culture when he was aspiring to become a civil servant.
“If governments had acted sooner, these changes could have come earlier. The area lacked the infrastructure to accommodate such a large influx of students,” Chauhan added. “I hope we start valuing children’s lives more.”
Following the drowning tragedy in July, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed over 30 coaching institutes in Mukherjee Nagar for failing to comply with safety regulations such as providing two exits, proper ventilation, and fire department NOCs.
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An eroding ecosystem
By 5 pm last Monday, e-rickshaw driver Chhotu Singh had made only Rs 600. A few weeks ago, he would have easily raked in Rs 1,500 by evening, ferrying students from GTB Nagar Metro station to Mukherjee Nagar and back.
“Around 35 percent of the crowd has decreased recently,” said Chhotu glumly. He’s been driving e-rickshaws ever since he moved to Delhi from his hometown in UP’s Sultanpur five years ago. Now, he’s returning without a passenger to GTB Nagar Metro gate number 2, where trains would belch out hundreds of aspirants every day.
Walls, building facades, streetlights—every free square metre of empty space along the 2-km route—is crammed with posters and hoardings of coaching institutes and hostels, as well as mugshots of successful aspirants.
“Earlier, I would fill my rickshaw with students at the metro station itself. Now, I have to wait. I fear that I might have to move out as well.”
It’s a similar refrain on every street corner at Mukherjee Nagar. For the first time this month, Mohan Singh, who manages a stationery store, has time to sit back, rest his legs on the counter, and scroll through YouTube shorts on his phone.
“Many students have gone to Karol Bagh and Wazirabad. We are experiencing significant losses in our businesses, and we’ve heard that many coaching institutes are leaving, and so will the students,” said Singh, who opened the store six years ago. The rows of shelves in the small store are stuffed with pens, highlighters, notebooks, maps, and stickers. According to Mohan, his customers have dropped from 100-150 a day to around 70-80 in just a few weeks.
By afternoon, the pavement outside would have been teeming with students rushing to one of the many eateries to scarf down a quick hot lunch. New eateries keep popping up, each promising a taste of home—khichdi, kachori, chhole-bhature, samosas, momos, idli, dosa. There are at least a hundred eateries and restaurants here.
Coaching centres aren’t just about making people successful; they’re about selling dreams, particularly to those who feel unsuccessful, offering hope.
-Vijender Chauhan, DU professor and former UPSC aspirant
“When I was preparing for the UPSC, Aggarwal [Sweets] used to be our McDonald’s. We used to go in happiness to celebrate, and in sadness to feel better,” said a Maharashtra cadre IAS officer, reminiscing about his Mukherjee Nagar days back in 2013. Eating at Aggarwal Sweets is a ritual, a rite of passage for aspirants. It still stands, but now it’s joined by Punjabi Zaika, Punjabi Chicken Corner, and Chawla Fast Food.
On Monday evening, around 30 students gather outside Aggarwal Sweets in small clusters, eating golgappas and dhoklas while discussing study material, the quality of teaching, and interviews of IAS officers that they had seen online.
It all came together organically.
“Building an ecosystem isn’t easy,” said DU professor Chauhan. He described it as an accumulation of the tangible in the form of institutes, PGs, and so on, as well as the collective memory of addas, celebratory lunches, and late-night cramming sessions.
Popular culture has only amplified the appeal. IAS and IPS officers are taking over movies, memes, and web series—their UPSC prep struggles enshrined in shows like Aspirants and 12th Fail.
“Coaching centres aren’t just about making people successful; they’re about selling dreams, particularly to those who feel unsuccessful, offering hope. Their absence won’t affect the number of research papers being published, but it might change how we view success and failure,” said Chauhan.
Landlords have already started receiving a flurry of ‘leaving notices’ from aspirants. For the first time in years, hostels and PGs have room to spare.
Hostels emptying, brokers tense
Outside the steps of a library, Shivam Jha, a Drishti IAS student, is making plans for his upcoming move to Noida. The 26-year-old from Patna took months to adjust to the rhythm of life at Mukherjee Nagar—finding the best tea stall, the fastest copier shop, and the quietest reading room. Now, he’ll have to start over.
“I am not sure if the tea would taste the same there. I think in the initial days I will make my own tea. It’s the first thing we have in the morning, and while preparing I have around 6-7 cups every day. So, I want to explore a good tea stall there,” said Jha.
But he’s relieved to finally move out of his cramped ‘room’—actually one of three ‘units’ in a single room.
“The rooms in Noida should be bigger and cheaper,” he said. The Rs 10,000 his father sends him every month to cover his rent, food, and other expenses will go further in Noida. At Mukherjee Nagar, even the space under stairwells has been converted into ‘rooms’. Jha is moving out in two months, but landlords have already started receiving a flurry of ‘leaving notices’ from aspirants. For the first time in years, hostels and PGs have room to spare.
Meena Kumari, 44, who owns two buildings in Mukherjee Nagar that she’s converted into hostels, is stoic about the change despite some of her tenants already having given notice.
“There is no chance that the entire crowd will go away. It will be good that this place will become a little breathable,” she said.
While landlords are still optimistic that this is just a small hiccup, and that things will bounce back to normal, brokers are more circumspect.
“This time, it feels real,” said Jasvir Yadav, a broker who established his business at Mukherjee Nagar 10 years ago. Many of his clients have intimated him that they will be moving out permanently. And he hasn’t found replacements for all the units.
“If this continues then I will be compelled to move from Delhi to my village in UP,” he said, echoing rickshaw driver Chhotu’s gloomy predictions.
Landlords and brokers are now pointing fingers at each other. Each is accusing the other of greed and for the poor infrastructure and neglected amenities.
“They became a little greedy and uncooperative. They used to take money from the students even for little things like bulbs and switches,” Jha said.
It’s the beginning of the end for Mukherjee Nagar, said several coaching institutes. They’re of the view that this time around the MCD is in no mood to compromise until safety compliances are actually achieved.
Seals and shifts
From local juice vendors to rickshaw drivers, everyone claims to have inside information on where coaching institutes and students are moving.
“Some students have moved to Karol Bagh, and many are planning to go to Noida. Some coaching institutes are also moving to Narela,” claimed Aslam, who works at a juice shop near Batra Cinema.
Outside the basement where Drishti IAS once held classes, workers load big trucks with chairs, tables, and water coolers. The place is bereft of students.
“People used to stand in lines to get the front seats in the class. We never faced any trouble entering or leaving. Many people came to this class to motivate aspirants. Many toppers studied right here. It’s a very emotional moment for us,” said Jha.
For now, Drishti has asked students to attend offline classes at their Karol Bagh location while they set up a new centre in Noida.
I will move with Drishti. All my friends are moving with me. I had just started to feel comfortable here, but dil ka kya hai kahin bhi lag hi jayega (I will start liking the new place too)
-Vibhav Kumar, UPSC aspirant from MP
“It will be operational in the next two months,” said a senior manager of Drishti IAS. He claimed that the institute accounts for 80 per cent of the Hindi-medium UPSC aspirants in Mukherjee Nagar.
Vibhav Kumar, a 24-year-old aspirant from Madhya Pradesh, is preparing to move to Noida once Drishti announces the exact location. He is banking on the rent being lower than in Mukherjee Nagar, where landlords also charge steep rates for maintenance and security. To save on coaching costs, Vibhav has enrolled in Drishti’s mentoring program.
“I have cleared the mentoring program test, and they will provide me with all the study material and free access to the library. So, I will move with Drishti. All my friends are moving with me. I had just started to feel comfortable here, but dil ka kya hai kahin bhi lag hi jayega (I will start liking the new place too),” said Kumar, sitting outside a library with his friends.
Following the drowning tragedy in July, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has sealed over 30 coaching institutes in Mukherjee Nagar for failing to comply with safety regulations such as providing two exits, proper ventilation, and fire department NOCs.
“We are not going to compromise on student safety,” said a senior civic official in the MCD. “We will ensure that the institutes operating in Mukherjee Nagar have all the necessary permissions before we allow them to open.”
Students are also now wary of paying lakhs to these institutes. It’s peak enrollment season, but applications and enquiries have started to drop, according to admission counsellors of five institutes that ThePrint spoke to.
It’s the beginning of the end for Mukherjee Nagar, said several coaching institutes. They’re of the view that this time around the MCD is in no mood to compromise or cut backdoor deals.
“The bans and sealing of centres are not new. But they used to be compromised as coaching institutes paid money to the MCD. This time, the MCD seems very rigid about safety norms,” said a senior employee of a popular coaching institute.
If this continues, many institutes will have no choice but to shift. Mukherjee Nagar’s cramped streets and buildings were never designed to accommodate such a large number of students. Smaller institutes, especially those where owners have invested in property, are particularly anxious.
“Moving from here will be our last option. We are trying hard to get all the necessary permissions to resume our classes in Mukherjee Nagar. We are in discussions and are optimistic that we will receive the fire NOC soon,” said Nishant Saxena, one of the owners of Sanskriti IAS, which was sealed.
Saxena blames the MCD for the deaths of three UPSC aspirants in Old Rajinder Nagar.
“Why did they permit libraries and classes in basements in the first place?” he said. “People die in rail accidents too, but it doesn’t mean trains stop running.”
He added that it’s unlikely Mukherjee Nagar will empty out completely. The entire ecosystem, its culture is an indelible part of Delhi history.
History of Mukherjee Nagar
In a way, Mukherjee Nagar was always a receptacle of people’s hopes and dreams. Before it became the commercial coaching hub that it is today, it was a refuge for people displaced from West Punjab during Partition. Families lived there in makeshift camps before receiving allotments in other parts of Delhi.
For a while it was a typical residential area. But when legal issues started cropping up with tenants refusing to vacate, landlords started renting to bankers and government officers, who never stayed long due to frequent transfers.
By the 1990s, a few coaching institutes had begun offering classes for government exams like civil services, medical entrance, and engineering. Mukherjee Nagar’s proximity to Delhi University’s north campus made it a prime location, and it gradually transitioned from a residential area to a commercial coaching hub.
Drishti IAS was one of the earliest institutes to open a centre back in 1999. Others followed suit, the number of candidates selected began to rise, and soon Mukherjee Nagar emerged as a coaching nucleus for UPSC’s Hindi-medium students.
Awanish Sharan, an IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, spent years preparing for the UPSC here before his selection in 2009.
After passing the preliminary exam, he found a room offered by a broker in Mukherjee Nagar—a kitchen on a rooftop.
“My folding bed barely fit, and I used to place all my books on the shelves. I was selected from there and prepared for the mains and interview from that very kitchen. That’s Mukherjee Nagar for me,” said Sharan.
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The heart of it all
Young women and men sit on stools at a tea shop near Batra Cinema. “This is your fourth cup of tea. You should stop now,” a young female aspirant tells her friend, who insists he needs the fuel to pull an all-nighter.
Batra Cinema stopped showing films in 2012, but the building is still a landmark, surrounded by coaching institutes, eateries, and the 10-foot statue of freedom fighter Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, after whom the neighbourhood is named. It’s the heart of Mukherjee Nagar.
Hanging out on the steps is a ritual for the aspirants. Meeting a friend, discussing study material, or just taking a break—it all happens at Batra Cinema. If someone spends too much time there, that person is teasingly called a ‘Batra khori’.
The gathering point is also famous for its 24-hour tea service. By night, vendors arrive around 8 pm, selling parathas and tea until 6 am.
Mukherjee Nagar is a campus without a college. In many ways it’s safer than some campuses. In the wee hours, aspirants can be seen sitting on small stools outside brightly lit food stalls eating bun-maska, vada pav, and Maggi to fuel their late-night study sessions.
It is this safety and freedom that Sonia Dahiya, 33, will miss the most. She and 10 other aspirants from her hostel will be moving out in the next few weeks.
“I used to be in the libraries at 3 am, and I never felt unsafe. Stepping out for a cup of tea at 2 am was normal,” said Dahiya, who is preparing for the state public service exams. “It will take time to build such a safe zone in the new place.”
But it won’t be the teeming, thriving chaos that is Mukherjee Nagar.
For IAS officer Awanish Sharan, it’s been nearly 15 years since he moved out of the narrow lanes of Mukherjee Nagar, but Mukherjee Nagar never moved out of him. It’s like a relative he has to visit whenever he comes to Delhi.
“Whenever I come to Delhi, I visit Mukherjee Nagar,” he said. “I go to Batra Cinema, and it reminds me of my old days as a student, excited to see any selected candidates.”