The Centre has approved a major leadership reshuffle at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), appointing Prashant Sitaram Lokhande as the new Chairman and Varun Bhardwaj as Secretary amid the ongoing On-Screen Marking (OSM) controversy. According to an order issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), Lokhande, a 2001-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre and currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Home under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has been appointed Chairperson of CBSE in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary. He replaces Rahul Singh, a 1996-batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre, who has been appointed Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. Varun Bhardwaj has been appointed Secretary of the board as part of the administrative overhaul, marking the completion of the Centre's restructuring initiative. Lokhande brings a technical background to the role, having earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Pune University and a postgraduate diploma in Industrial Engineering from NITIE Mumbai, with his career including stints as Deputy Commissioner, Counsellor, Private Secretary, Director and Joint Secretary, and recognition with the State Award (Gold) for exemplary service.
The Cabinet Secretariat has constituted a one-member committee to inquire into matters relating to the procurement of OSM services by CBSE, according to an office memorandum dated June 2, 2026. The committee will be headed by S Radha Chauhan, chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, and has been empowered to seek assistance from officers of other offices as required. Secretarial support will be provided by the Capacity Building Commission, with the committee required to submit its report within a month to the Department of Personnel and Training. The inquiry specifically relates to the procurement of services for the OSM system, which CBSE introduced for the evaluation of Class XII board examination answer scripts this year. The review will examine how the digital evaluation platform was procured, the process through which vendors were chosen, and a range of operational challenges that have sparked concerns over technical reliability and transparency. The leadership overhaul comes against the backdrop of increasing criticism of CBSE's digital marking framework, with concerns being raised over reported discrepancies in the evaluation of examination papers.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has announced that the re-evaluation portal for Class 12 students will now be operational from June 1, 2026, marking a delay from the originally scheduled May 29, 2026 launch. According to an official statement from the Board, the postponement has been implemented to ensure 'transparent and glitch-free' verification and re-evaluation processes for students who intend to submit applications on the Post-Result Activities portal. The Board stated that the decision was taken to ensure 'the highest standards and protocols of evaluation' for students seeking to apply for verification and re-evaluation. Students with queries can reach out to the CBSE Tele-Counseling Helpline at 1800 11 8004 and Email resultcbse2026@cbseshiksha.in for assistance.
CBSE has acknowledged around 20 cases of answer-sheet mismatches during the evaluation process, with officials stating that nearly 98 lakh answer books were processed and maintaining that mistakes can occur in both manual and digital systems. The board is examining how the mismatches occurred and working to make the system 'absolutely glitch-free'. Under the contract, penalties are prescribed for scanning-related errors with a wrongly scanned or mismatched answer book attracting a penalty of ₹4,000, partially scanned copies carrying a penalty of ₹8,000, and completely unscanned answer books attracting a penalty of ₹15,000. The controversy has intensified with political allegations from the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, who has questioned the award of the contract citing the company's past record and alleging links between Coempt's management and the Modi government. Many class 12 students have also alleged scoring discrepancies and mismatches in the scanned copies of their answer sheets, casting doubt on the OSM system.
The controversy has intensified with political allegations from the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, who has questioned the award of the contract citing the company's past record and alleging links between Coempt's management and the Modi government. In a video posted on social media, Gandhi alleged that 'COEMPT, the company that did the On-Screen Marking (OSM) for your exam, was actually called Globarena. Globarena has carried out this scam twice before in Telangana, once in the board exam in Telangana in 2019 and after that again in Telangana in 2023. The same OSM-based errors were responsible for the death by suicide of 23 young Indians in Telangana'. He has demanded an independent judicial probe as well as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unearth the truth behind the 'entire scam', stating that 'CBSE students and their parents are traumatised but Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'has nothing to say'. However, these allegations have been dismissed by CBSE and several BJP leaders have responded strongly, with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan alleging that 'multiple institutions functioning under Congress governments continue' with the Hyderabad-based company.
Amid the controversy surrounding its On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, the CBSE has stated that it is a secure and robust IT platform, adding that no vulnerability or compromise has been reported in the evaluation portal. The Board stated that the platform has been tested and certified through empanelled security audits and is backed by a strong digital infrastructure with multiple safeguards to ensure the secure scanning and processing of answer books. In a post on X, the Board assured students that answer sheets are safe and are processed through multiple quality-control mechanisms. This assurance comes as the board faces scrutiny over the technical issues and allegations of system vulnerabilities in the evaluation process, with the Cabinet Secretariat's probe committee specifically tasked with examining the procurement process, vendor selection and execution of the OSM system.
