Won’t Spare Anyone If Negligence Found; Taking Responsibility: Dharmendra Pradhan Amid CBSE OSM Row
New Delhi: Amid the controversy surrounding the CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday assured that strict action would be taken if any deliberate negligence or wrongdoing was found in the process. He also criticised the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, saying the Congress leader was acting out of frustration following repeated electoral defeats.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Pradhan said the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had undertaken a massive digital evaluation exercise involving nearly 40 crore scanned pages.
“Out of the 17 lakh students who appeared for the examination, CBSE has maintained answer scripts of around 98 lakh copies. Each answer sheet contains nearly 40 pages, amounting to approximately 40 crore scanned pages. For the first time, CBSE has conducted the evaluation process through On-Screen Marking (OSM),” the minister said.
Calling OSM a progressive and student-centric initiative, Pradhan said many universities and educational institutions across the world are adopting similar systems to ensure transparency and ease of access for students.
“This system enables students to access their answer sheets and resolve any doubts regarding their marks. OSM has been introduced keeping students’ interests in mind. However, some shortcomings have emerged, and I take responsibility for them. We will ensure that no student’s queries go unanswered,” he added.
Pradhan further stated that IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras had been roped in to address technical and operational issues related to the system.
“We have requested expert teams from IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras to examine the matter. The teams are actively working on resolving the issues. I also requested the Finance Minister to streamline the payment process and organise the payment gateway. The CBSE portal has now been integrated with payment gateways of four public sector banks — SBI, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Canara Bank,” he said.
The minister reiterated that accountability would be fixed if any intentional lapses were discovered.
“IIT professor groups are handling the matter. We are taking responsibility for whatever has happened. If any intentional wrongdoing is found, we will not spare those responsible. In a democracy, everyone is accountable, and we are not shying away from answering questions or accepting accountability,” he said.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s criticism over alleged discrepancies in the CBSE examination process, Pradhan accused the Congress leader of opposing every reform initiative undertaken by the government.
“CBSE has already issued its clarification and fulfilled its responsibilities. The process was carried out in accordance with the Government of India’s procurement policy. If any negligence is found, we will take strict action,” he said.
“As far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, he appears to be in a different mindset due to continuous electoral losses, which have led to frustration. He has opposed everything — whether it is the SIR process, EVMs, or Digital India. He is not aligned with India’s scientific and technological progress,” Pradhan added.
The minister also appealed to political parties not to politicise issues concerning students.
“I have said this earlier as well — this is not the time for politics. Students are already under stress, and we should avoid creating further anxiety among them,” he said.
On Wednesday, the CBSE rejected allegations by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi that questioned the board’s on-screen marking (OSM) system. The CBSE, in response to a post by Gandhi on X, alluded to how the Congress MP added conspiratorial colours to a matter about the board giving a contract to a private company, Coempt Edutech.
The CBSE said his claim was “erroneous, misleading and not based on facts”. It said the contract was indeed awarded to Coempt Edutech – only after following due procedure under the General Financial Rules, which are mandatory and legally binding best practices laid down by the government.
“CBSE has followed the General Financial Rules protocols scrupulously in the awarding of the contract to the agency. CBSE floated the RFP for Digital Evaluation of Answer books for Board Exams 2026 on Central Public Procurement portal on 28.08.2025 and awarded the contract to the qualified bidder,” the CBSE said, referring to the Request for Proposal, or RFP.
(IANS)
