The foot soldiers for teaching work are often ex-students. They are used as assistants by teachers at exploitative rates of payment to make lecture notes and do the tedious work of evaluating answer-sheets of practice tests. “It’s a combination of cheating, as people take these tests expecting teachers to evaluate their answers, and exploitation, as ex-students hired to do the job are paid peanuts compared with the huge fee that these teachers charge for such tests” said Shishir Tripathi who evaluated test series answer sheets of political science for a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar. Some lecture notes also find their way to the numerous study material shops which have proliferated in these colonies over last few years. “We deal basically in exam study material, you may also call it exam merchandise. Nobody is interested in reading books here, they want material to mug up. It’s a recycling business, you bank on photocopying machines to keep churning out that stuff’’ said Anil Kumar of Kumar Book Centre, a chain of study material shops in these colonies.