New Delhi: A small blaze on Monday morning at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) campus in central Delhi briefly alarmed officials and sparked political criticism after initial reports wrongly identified the site as the Ministry of Education’s office.
The Delhi Fire Service said an emergency call came in at 9.37 am and eight fire tenders were rushed to the second floor where the fire erupted. Authorities confirmed there were no injuries or fatalities and the flames were quickly brought under control.
“It is clarified that the Ministry of Education is located at Kartavya Bhavan-2, Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi. Whereas the fire incident occurred at the premises of the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), located at ITO, New Delhi,” the Education Ministry later stated, stressing the correction was issued to prevent misinformation.
“This clarification is being issued to avoid the spread of any misinformation regarding the fire incident. Further, the fire was minor in nature and was quickly brought under control. No loss of life or property has been reported,” the ministry added.
Opposition Seizes On Misreporting, Flags Suspicions
Political leaders quickly seized on the confusion. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared a media clipping and expressed suspicion about the incident, saying: ‘The news of a fire in the Education Ministry’s offices is very concerning. It is also very fishy.’ His comments formed part of a broader critique of the government’s handling of education-sector matters.
Ramesh accused the Union government of mismanaging the CBSE’s On Screen Marking (OSM) rollout and protecting contractors. He said, “This is an inexplicable, government-backed attempt to save COEMPT, and it began even before COEMPT got the contract officially,” and asked what action would be taken against the firm, adding “not much.” He also criticised the education minister: “Mantri Pradhan is the very epitome of arrogance and incompetence, insistent on putting his political agenda above and beyond any responsibility to the nation.”
The political remarks followed reports that several CBSE Class 12 students found mismatched scanned answer sheets on the portal; the board later corrected the records and said it had treated the revaluation concerns as a top priority.
