FIITJEE centers across Delhi-NCR shut amid salary delays, teachers resign

Several FIITJEE centers have unexpectedly shut down across Delhi-NCR, and many teachers have resigned due to non-payment of salaries for months, according to students and their parents.

FIRs have been registered against two centers of the private institute, which provides coaching for competitive exams to engineering aspirants, in Noida and Ghaziabad.

According to FIITJEE's website, it runs 73 centers across the country.

An email sent to FIITJEE seeking comment remained unanswered at the time of filing this story.

The abrupt closure of FIITJEE centers has left many students and their parents, who have paid fees running into lakhs of rupees, in the lurch.

Sandhya Singh, the mother of a student who was enrolled at FIITJEE's Laxmi Nagar center, said her family paid ₹5.4 lakh for their son's two-year course.

"My son was preparing for the engineering entrance exam at FIITJEE's east Delhi center in Laxmi Nagar. The center has been closed for a week without notice.

"We paid ₹5.4 lakh in advance for the two-year course because they offered us a discount for paying in fewer installments. Now the center head's phone is switched off, and no one else is answering our calls," Singh said.

She said she contacted her son's teachers and found out that many of them had resigned due to non-payment of salaries and joined another well-known coaching institute.

The affected parents have created a WhatsApp group to keep abreast of the latest developments, she said.

Another parent has lodged a police complaint in connection with the closure of the Laxmi Nagar FIITJEE center.

"I paid ₹3.40 lakh for a four-year course for my child, who is in class 11. The center closed abruptly. A few days ago, my son mentioned that many teachers had left and joined another coaching institute. At first, we didn't think much of it but realized later that the center may have closed because of the lack of staff," said the parent who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We are now being approached by the coaching institute that the teachers have joined, and we may have to consider it as there's no other option. Our child's future is at stake," the parent said.

A former FIITJEE teacher said he resigned due to irregular payment of salaries.

"In the past year, we received salaries intermittently. Five months' salaries are still pending. We requested the center head to clear the dues, but he was clueless as there was no clarity from the top management," he said.

He also refuted allegations of the other coaching institute poaching FIITJEE's faculty members, saying the institute only hired the teachers who left in large numbers due to non-payment of salaries.

In mounting trouble for FIITJEE, FIRs have been registered against its centers in Ghaziabad and Noida.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida, Ram Badan Singh, told reporters that a case of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust has been registered against the FIITJEE center in Sector 62.

"A complaint was received at the Sector 58 police station regarding the FIITJEE center in Sector 62, Noida, which was found closed when students reached there for their classes on Wednesday.

"The entire staff was absent. Subsequently, the parents of the affected students filed a complaint on Jan 23. Based on this, a case of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust has been registered, and we are investigating the matter," Singh said.

The second FIR was registered against the officials of the FIITJEE center in Ghaziabad's Raj Nagar area.

According to the FIR, the coaching centre was operating “illegally.”

Several complainants have stated that they paid advance fees ranging from ₹3.5 lakh to ₹5 lakh to the coaching center for their children's coaching, the FIR stated.

"It has been noted that teachers have gradually left the institution, and the staff members, including teachers, have not been paid their salaries. Additionally, classes for the students have not been conducted for several days, causing academic loss to the students," it said.

Upon a review of records, it has been found that there is no registered coaching center in the name of FIITJEE Limited, D-6 and 7 RDC, Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad. This clearly indicates that the coaching center is operating "illegally" without prior registration, which is a direct violation of the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Coaching Regulation Act, the FIR stated.

(PTI)