For Renuka Yadav, Devanshi Reading Room in Mukherjee Nagar has been a godsend for the past several months over which she has been studying for the Civil Services Preliminary Examination in the Capital. Tied down by a shoestring budget and the pressure to make it to the next round in the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) exam, she says she could not have managed to write her paper on Sunday morning had it not been for the uninterrupted hours of study she got at the facility every day.
Several reading rooms have cropped up in the Capital in recent years. For about ₹800 a month, they allows young aspirants like Ms. Yadav to get in at least six hours of study time in a quiet, air-conditioned space in the peak of Delhi’s summer. The cost-effective arrangement offers an alternative to the hefty electricity bills that paying guest (PG) facilities demand from the aspirants, many of whom would then be forced to forgo the luxury of air-conditioning entirely.
“Spending ₹800 on a studying facility instead of forking out over ₹2,000 to use the AC in my PG seems far more reasonable,” says Ms. Yadav. The 26-year-old, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun, adds that since it is her second time attempting the tough exam, spending on anything other than bare necessities feels like a “crime”.
Ankit Nagar, the owner of the reading room, says that the number of students signing up for the facility shoots up dramatically as summer approaches. “UPSC aspirants feel it is cheaper to spend less and study here instead of in their cramped PG rooms,” he says.
The reading rooms, which are mostly concentrated in the UPSC coaching centre hubs like Karol Bagh, Rajender Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar, operate in three shifts. The first runs from morning to noon, the second from noon to night, and the third from night to day. Unlike a library, these spaces do not have books, but resemble a cyber cafe, with cubicles holding a table and chair, and sometimes, a discussion room for those interested in group study.
Garima Shah, a 27-year-old aspirant from Ludhiana, says the facilities are a break from the ill-ventilated, tin-walled PG she stays in, as well as a chance to be surrounded by fellow aspirants. “Not only do reading rooms provide a conducive environment to study, but they are also a place where I feel motivated just by seeing other people working towards the same goal,” she says.
Following a series of fires in 2023, these reading rooms came under the legal lens after the Delhi High Court received a plea seeking action against them. The petition stated that such rooms have come up without a plan, often contain only a single entry and exit door, and therefore, must be sealed. While the court did not take any action on the plea, the facilities have enjoyed uninterrupted popularity amongst not only those who live in PGs, but also to aspirants looking for a quiet place away from their busy households.
“We are a family of four living in a one-bedroom apartment, which makes it difficult for me to focus without getting distracted. Paying for a seat in a reading room is the most sensible option for me,” says Rajat Sharma, a resident of Mukherjee Nagar.
