Congress cries foul over fire at ‘Education Ministry’ office: ‘Very concerning, very fishy,’ says Jairam Ramesh

A fire that broke out at the Ministry of Education's office in central Delhi on Monday triggered a political reaction from the Congress, with senior leader Jairam Ramesh describing the incident as ‘very concerning’ and ‘very fishy.’

"The news of a fire in the Education Ministry's offices is very concerning. It is also very fishy," Ramesh said in a post on social media, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding the blaze.

The fire erupted on the second floor of the Ministry of Education's office located within the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) campus in Delhi's ITO area. According to officials, no injuries or fatalities have been reported.

No injuries or fatalities have been reported so far.

According to the Delhi Fire Service, an emergency call regarding the blaze was received at 9.37 am. In response, eight fire tenders were dispatched to the site to contain the flames.

Fire Services rectifies statement

Later, however, Delhi Fire Service (DFS) rectified its initial information of a fire breaking out at a Ministry of Education Office, Vikas Marg. The fire instead broke out at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), near ITO, Delhi, as per the updated information issued by DFS.

“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,” Ministry of Education said in a statement.

“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,” it said.

Earlier, the Congress party launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government over the CBSE OSM row, saying the "Pradhan Mantri" has never been known to hold himself or his colleagues to any standard of probity or morality but the "Mantri Pradhan" should follow his "rajdharma" and resign.

Ramesh shared a media report on X and said that after denying the cybersecurity vulnerabilities in its On Screen Marking (OSM) system for weeks, the CBSE has finally acknowledged that the system has been compromised.

Congress attacks PM

But what action is it planning to take against its contractor COEMPT, he asked, adding, "not much".

It appears that the COEMPT's benefactors in the CBSE and the Ministry of Education anticipated that COEMPT would not be fit for the task, he said.

In its August 2025 RFP, the CBSE had retained the power to blacklist vendors who were unable to deliver effectively, Ramesh pointed out.

In September, the CBSE issued a corrigendum which took away its own power to blacklist these vendors, he said.

"This is an inexplicable, government-backed attempt to save COEMPT, and it began even before COEMPT got the contract officially," Ramesh said in his post on X.

How much longer will the nation have to put up with Mantri Pradhan, whose Ministry has overseen and enabled such unfathomable irregularities in its tenders and which has cost lakhs of students their mental well-being, Ramesh asked taking a swipe at Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

"Mantri Pradhan is the very epitome of arrogance and incompetence, insistent on putting his political agenda above and beyond any responsibility to the nation," he alleged.

Several CBSE Class 12 students had flagged mix-up cases after accessing scanned copies uploaded on the portal and finding that the answer sheets did not belong to them.

The CBSE later reached out to them and shared their correct answer sheets.The Board said that it had taken up on "top priority" the cases related to alleged mismatched answer sheets and other concerns faced by students in the revaluation process.

Experts from IIT-Madras and IIT-Kanpur, along with Digital Infrastructure Corporation of India (DICI), are examining the system and strengthening the portal and payment gateway integration, according to government sources.

Coempt, the company that did the OSM for the CBSE exam, has come under attack from Gandhi, who alleged that the firm was already mired in controversy under its old name, Globarena.

(With PTI inputs)