‘Invested Rs 6 lakh already’: Students, parents left in lurch after FIITJEE centres close in Delhi, UP over non-payment of salaries

As many as eight FIITJEE (Forum For Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination) coaching centres have shut over the past week. This abrupt closure has left hundreds of students and parents in the lurch. 

According to a report in NDTV, the closure came after several teachers at the institute quit en masse, over unpaid salaries. The coaching centres that closed were in Noida, Ghaziabad, Bhopal, Varanasi, Delhi, and Patna. The latest centre to close was in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut. 

The centre’s administration reportedly tried to arrange for teachers from Noida, but that didn’t last long, after which they had to shut the institute. 

The parents have alleged that the private coaching institute did not give them any prior notice or issued any refund. Many have also filed police complaints, the report stated. A parent told the news site that they were assured that these FIITJEE coaching centres would not shut down. “I have invested Rs 6 lakh already...they took everyone's money and told us that classes would go on,” said the parent of a student studying at the FIITJEE institute in Meerut. 

Another parent, who invested Rs 4 lakh, said that the FIITJEE teachers said that most faculty members were leaving as they had not been paid salaries for several months. 

The coaching institute has been in the throes of a financial crisis due to fresh administrative and civic action against its centres for violating licensing and fire safety rules. The current crisis started off just after the end of the academic session for students appearing on January 22, 23 and 24 Session-1 of JEE Mains.