Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad district administration on Wednesday cancelled its controversial March 24 direction that had ordered schools to hold online classes on March 28 – the inauguration day of the Noida International Airport in Jewar – but offered no clarity on whether the requisition of 800 school buses for the event would proceed.
In an order dated March 25 (Wednesday) addressed to school principals, and released to media on Thursday, district magistrate Ravinder Kumar Mandar stated: “The undersigned is directed to cancel, with immediate effect, the order … dated March 24, 2026. Consequently, classes in all schools of the district shall be conducted physically on March 28.”
The March 24 direction issued by the DM had requisitioned 800 buses from schools to ferry “beneficiaries of government schemes” to the inauguration ceremony of the Noida International Airport and directed that classes in all schools in the district be moved online.
To be sure, the latest order does not address the bus takeover.
Calls by HT to Mandar for clarification on the requisition of buses went unanswered.
Ghaziabad chief development officer Abhinav Gopal declined to comment, referring the matter to the transport department. “As per the new order, classes in schools will resume physical mode as before. The arrangement of buses will be handled differently. The transport department will look after the issue of buses,” said OP Yadav, the district’s basic education officer.
Regional transport officer (RTO) PK Singh said was “out of station” and the RTO (enforcement) was managing the bus arrangement. “We don’t know about the order, and we will look into it and revert. The closure of classes in schools is a different matter from the takeover of buses. Both are separate subjects, and we will revert on this,” RTO (enforcement) Siyaram Verma said. There was no further response from Verma till the time this edition going to print.
Members of the Indian Parents’ Association (IPA) expressed concern over fuel costs for the buses. “The concerned authorities should consider inaugurating the event in online mode, especially when issues related to fuel are looming large in the wake conflict in west Asia. Releasing a modified order and not giving clarity on the takeover of buses is shrouded in mystery,” Vivek Tyagi, media coordinator of IPA, said.
Political parties had criticised the March 24 order, alleging the buses would ferry BJP workers. BJP city president Mayank Goel denied this on Wednesday, stating, “We have arranged for about 500 buses on our own from Ghaziabad to go to Jewar. The allegations are baseless and false.”