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CBSE OSM Controversy Deepens: Chairman Rahul Singh Transferred, Centre Launches Inquiry Into Tender Process

  • By Thetripurapost Desk, New Delhi
  • Jun 02, 2026
  • 108

The controversy surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE Official Website) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system intensified on Tuesday after the Central Government transferred CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta while simultaneously announcing an official investigation into the procurement and tendering process associated with the digital evaluation platform.

The Union Governmen (Ministry of Education Portal) has constituted a one-member inquiry committee to examine the circumstances under which the OSM service contract was awarded. The move comes amid growing criticism from students, parents, and education experts following complaints regarding the evaluation of Class 12 answer scripts.

As part of the administrative reshuffle, senior IAS officer Prashant Sitaram Lokhande has been appointed as the new CBSE Chairman. A 2001-batch AGMUT cadre officer, Lokhande brings extensive administrative experience to the country's largest school education board. Varun Bhardwaj, a 2008-batch Indian Information Service (IIS) officer, has been appointed as the new CBSE Secretary.

The development coincided with the appearance of Class 12 student Sarthak Siddhanta before a Parliamentary Standing Committee Siddhanta gained national attention after publicly highlighting alleged shortcomings in the newly introduced OSM evaluation system. Parliamentary sources indicated that this is the first known instance of a student being invited to directly present concerns before the committee.

The controversy began after CBSE declared its Class 12 Board Examination Results on May 13. This year marked the first large-scale implementation of the On-Screen Marking system, under which answer sheets were digitally evaluated instead of being checked through conventional methods. Soon after the results were announced, numerous students questioned their marks and demanded greater transparency in the assessment process.

Meanwhile, CBSE revealed that its re-evaluation portal was targeted by a major cyberattack shortly after becoming operational. According to board officials, nearly 1.5 million access attempts were recorded within two minutes, while more than 100,000 unauthorized attempts were made to gain access to restricted system files.

Despite the cyber threat, the portal remained operational and continued accepting applications from students. By Tuesday afternoon, over 16,000 candidates had successfully submitted requests for re-evaluation and verification of marks.

During his presentation before the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Sarthak Siddhanta raised concerns regarding both the functioning of the OSM platform and the tender process through which the contract was awarded. Referring to research published on his blog, he claimed to have identified at least 15 significant deficiencies in the system.

Following the allegations, the Ministry of Education sought a detailed explanation from CBSE regarding the awarding of the OSM contract to COEMPT and related procedural matters.

Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman Digvijaya Singh confirmed that Siddhanta's submissions had been formally recorded. He stated that the committee would now examine the issues highlighted by the student alongside CBSE's official response before deciding on its recommendations.

The latest developments have placed the CBSE OSM controversy under intense public and parliamentary scrutiny, with stakeholders awaiting the findings of both the government inquiry and the committee review.

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