Mohammad Musharraf, 24, is an UPSC aspirant in Old Rajendra Nagar, Delhi. He attends coaching classes and studies in libraries to make the most of his time. As the day progresses, he shares 'tips and tricks' for cracking the civil service exams on his social media accounts on X and Instagram, under the name 'UPSC Readers'.
Hailing from Bihar, Musharraf completed his post graduation in political science, last year, before he shifted to Old Rajendra Nagar, the hub of IAS coaching in Delhi.
He started the account UPSC Readers in November 2022 with an aim to assist aspirants who could not afford to join the ‘overpriced’ coaching institutes. Musharraf also has WhatsApp and Telegram channels where he shares his notes and practice papers.
Musharraf’s UPSC Readers now boasts over 27K followers on X and over 200K followers on Instagram.
However, the social media handle has temporarily pivoted from sharing educational content to amplifying the protests led by UPSC aspirants in Delhi, following the deaths of three students who were trapped after water from a flooded drain gushed into the library housed in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle.
Rescue efforts by the NDRF, local police, and fire department lasted seven hours on Saturday night, ultimately recovering the bodies of two female and one male student. The tragic incident has sparked protests by the aspirants, who are demanding justice for the lives lost and long-term solutions to the systemic issues.
Protestors craft posters on-site
‘Social media has romanticised our struggles’
Using hashtags like #WeDemandJustice and #StudentsUnderAttack, Musharraf has been actively sharing photos and videos of the protesting students on Old Rajendra Nagar Road, surrounded by the high-rise coaching centers and their billboards.
Speaking to Decode, Musharraf delved into why he chose to dedicate his social media to amplifying the voice of the protest. He said, “Students who leave their families to enroll in coaching institutes are filled with hopes and aspirations. However, the nexus of politics, shoddy administration, and corporate coaching centers systematically weakens these hopes. Losing our friends to this mayhem was the last straw.”
He highlighted that the incident has put forth the larger issue of safety measures at the city's mushrooming coaching centres which often go for a toss, being overlooked by both the institutions and government. “They otherwise spend lakhs of rupees for full front page advertisements in major newspapers,” Musharraf added.
Similarly, Avesh Khan, who has lived in the area for over an year, also dedicated his social media accounts on X and Instagram to the same cause. Khan’s handle, UPSC Notes, offers similar services as Musharraf's, but is now focused on documenting the 'corrupt' administration and the rage among aspirants.
Khan said he feels obligated to use his following, which totals nearly 100K across social media platforms, to do his bit in raising awareness about the seriousness of the situation. Originally from Uttar Pradesh, Khan has built a sizable following in just a year by sharing strategies and notes for UPSC examinations.
Both Khan and Musharraf believe that social media has extensively promoted a narrative of "romanticising struggle" rather than highlighting the broken system.
They pointed out that like Rau’s IAS Study Circle, where the UPSC aspirants died, other institutes in the area too have constructed libraries in their basement, without official permission, which currently remain sealed. Rau's IAS Study Circle was founded 70 years ago in 1953 by Dr. S. Rau.
Rau's IAS Study Circle in Delhi's Old Rajendra Nagar
Khan said, “We see viral reels of so-called celebrity teachers who make us believe there is no success without struggle. They promote the idea that overcoming the system’s hurdles will ultimately be rewarded when the aspirant cracks the exam.”
Khan blames these 'motivational' reels on social media for luring aspirants towards their dream job without making them aware of the ground reality. He asked, “Where are these teachers who become role models but can’t make another viral reel to highlight systemic issues?”
Citing the movie ‘12th Fail’, Musharraf said, “The lead actor lives in a flour mill but still becomes an IAS officer. But why should an aspirant be punished for having a dream? It’s the broken system that should be highlighted.”
“A single occupancy room in the area can cost over Rs 20,000 excluding the electricity bill and food. Aspirants then opt for dingy rooms away from the area which also cost around Rs 10,000. On top of it, these institutes charge a minimum of a lakh rupees for a 10 month course,” he told Decode.
According to Musharraf, these 'half-baked' stories of struggle make average aspirants feel their conditions are still decent. “They think it’s not a big deal to live in dingy rooms or spend an entire day in a library because they can’t travel back to their far-off rented rooms.”
Both told Decode that they want to use social media to reveal the reality beyond this "romanticised narrative". The system’s failures cannot be hidden behind a “struggle” that may or may not yield results, they said.
Leveraging social media to highlight ‘deplorable conditions’
The call for justice and accountability is being championed not only by resident aspirants of Old Rajendra Nagar but also by those who have moved away after experiencing the situation firsthand.
Shakun Bhushan, a resident of Jammu and former UPSC aspirant, lived in the cramped lanes of the area and studied at one of the expensive institutes in Delhi. Having spent over a year there, Bhushan said that he is well aware of the “glaring violations in these centres, such as cramped classrooms and study halls with no emergency exits, narrow staircases, and tangled electricity wires hanging dangerously close to the buildings”.
Bhushan, who has nearly 32K followers on his X handle 'tweetsforupsc', offers guidance to UPSC aspirants both online and offline since moving back to Jammu. Each day, he shares a graphic titled 'Facts for Today' on his X handle, summarising a historical or current event in bullet points.
“It was about time that these issues were brought to light. It seems that the administration was waiting for that one tragedy to happen and it has happened,” he said.
Bhushan still has friends living in the area who send him videos and photos of the protest, which he then shares on social media. After the tragedy at Rau’s IAS Study Circle, he has been vocal on his platforms about the 'greed of coaching institutes,' calling for immediate attention to this issue.
On Tuesday, Bhushan had also hosted an X Spaces titled ‘We stand with aspirants’ which saw an overwhelming participation of over 2600 listeners and speakers. Besides, he has been sharing updates for solidarity marches and other videos from the protest sites.
UPSC aspirants demand accountability
Similarly, Musharraf has been using his social media posts to emphasise the longstanding issues faced by aspirants and their demands for appropriate solutions. "I want to use my following to shed light on the inherent problems students face here, from living in cramped rooms with exorbitant rents to burning the midnight oil in study rooms and libraries," he said.
In one of his posts he detailed how on a rainy day, a few days before the tragedy happened, he had to take shelter in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle which housed the ‘illegal’ library. Musharraf said that he saw the guards struggling to stop water from entering the basement. “When they were unable to manage, they brought tarpaulin outside the gate,” he wrote.
He insisted that the tragic incident was not unforeseeable and that the institute knew they were meddling with the safety regulations.
Khan’s social media is also flooded with posts demanding swift justice and action against the arbitrary and often illegal practices of coaching institutes.
One post of Khan’s, which has received over 300 likes and 1,000 reposts, enlists demands such as, a complete overhaul of drainage and wiring systems, safety audits of all buildings, enforcement of the Delhi Rent Control Act to curb exorbitant rents, and prioritising student safety.
Protests outside the coaching institutes in Delhi's Old Rajendra Nagar have been ongoing since Sunday, with more than 500 students participating each day. The National Human Rights Commission has also ordered a survey to identify coaching centres operating in violation of regulations in the capital and to take action against negligent officials who fail to address these issues.