Organisers attributed it to the overwhelming response the contest evoked, which they were not prepared for.

The policemen stationed nearby had to intervene to avoid the situation from taking an ugly turn. As the arrangements had been made for a limited number of participants, those parents who were not able to get their wards registered for the contest, demanded to see the organisers and speak to them. When they were denied entry or any assistance, they got agitated and the result was utter confusion at the entry point of the venue.

The company had organised "Come and Celebrate Children's Day" contest with a spot registration fee of Rs 20. The result was that hundreds of parents lined up to get their kids registered for the contest being held in three categories: Colouring competition for kids in the age group of 3-4 years, Hidden picture competition for 5-7 years and handwriting competition for 8-10 years.

Director Sales of Lotus Education Network, Rachna Mehra said they had not expected such an "overwhelming" response. "We had made arrangements for only 500 participants, but the response was more than its double," she said.

The organisers had to put up a board saying "house-full" at the entrance of the venue, which disappointed many parents. "We have never seen such poor arrangements at a venue for kids' competitions," remarked J.M. Seth, a parent of a seven-year-old, who failed to get his son registered for the contest.

However, the parents whose kids had been registered were also denied admission. "My daughter is inside participating in the colouring category, but they would not allow me inside," said Bhavna Vashisht.

Rachna said: "We were also unable to carry out the proposed slide presentation show on `development of children' to the parents due to the confusion".

"Parents are not ready to leave their kids in the custody of the organisers. Ideally, they should have dropped their kids at the venue and left the management to the organisers, but they insisted on staying back to watch their kids participate," said a representative of the hotel.

A parent at the venue pointed out: "When the organisers had promised that while the kids would participate in the contest, the parents would be shown a slide show, why in the first place did they not allow us in?"

Rachna reasoned: "Parents just mobbed the place, insisting on being let in. They hardly gave us a chance to explain that only limited arrangements were possible at the venue."