Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday set a one-month deadline for coaching institutes to complete mandatory fire audits, install fire safety equipment and adhere to all prescribed safety measures. Failure to do so will result in strict action, including sealing of the institute, she said.

“One month. That is the deadline. The number of coaching institutes in Delhi is not the issue; the safety and security of our children is. Any institute without a fire audit, mandatory safety equipment or prescribed safety measures will face strict action, including sealing, if it fails to comply within a month,” Ms. Gupta said.

The Chief Minister urged students to report unsafe coaching centres through messages, e-mail or phone. “Every complaint will be acted upon. There will be no compromise on the safety of our children,” she said. Delhi has around 923 coaching centres.

On Thursday, Education Minister Ashish Sood said announced that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi had been designated as the nodal agency to conduct fire audits and safety inspections of all coaching centres. The directions come days after 15 people, mostly students, died in a fire at a commercial building in Lucknow<NO>, Uttar Pradesh. Last month, at least five students were killed when a commercial building near the Saket Metro Station had collapsed.