Congress demands Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over CBSE OSM row

The Congress demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the CBSE on-screen marking controversy, alleging inflated procurement costs and irregularities. The party called for an independent probe, questioning the adoption of the costly digital evaluation system

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday said that only Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan can answer as to why the CBSE was “made to adopt an expensive OSM system at inflated rates”, and asserted that he must resign so that an independent investigation can take place.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Governing Body in its December 2024 meeting flagged that the ‘financial implications of implementing On-Screen Marking (OSM)’ are ‘substantially high’ compared to existing practices.

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Citing a report in an English daily, Ramesh said it reveals that the estimated contract value of the CBSE’s tender for the OSM system increased by Rs 10 crore for the same volume of work.

“It was Rs 28 crore in the first two tenders issued by the CBSE but rose to Rs 38.46 crore in the final work order issued to COEMPT,” he alleged.

Ramesh pointed out that based on the actual price for the number of answer sheets scanned, the work’s value should only be around Rs 25.39 crore, which is approximately 66 per cent of the amount stated in the work order.

The CBSE was unable to answer the procurement-related questions posed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education after it heard from 18-year-old whistleblower Sarthak Sidhant in its meeting on Tuesday, he said.

“That is because only one man, the Mantri Pradhan, can speak to how and why the CBSE was made to adopt an expensive OSM system at inflated rates, despite the Governing Body’s concerns about the cost,” Ramesh stated.

“Pradhan must resign so that an independent investigation can occur into CBSE. Otherwise, the one-member committee set up by the Modi Government will remain an eyewash,” the Congress leader added.

The Congress has dubbed the government’s move to shunt out two top CBSE officials following the on-screen marking system row as an eyewash and cover-up, with Rahul Gandhi demanding that Pradhan be sacked and an independent judicial inquiry be ordered immediately.

CBSE chairman Rahul Singh and secretary Himanshu Gupta were removed from their positions in the national educational board following allegations of irregularities in the digital evaluation system for the Class 12 examination process.

The CBSE has been embroiled in controversy after some Class 12 students claimed that the scanned copies of their answer sheets, uploaded by the board, did not match their handwriting, raising concerns about potential mismatches in the OSM system.

On Tuesday, the cabinet secretariat announced the formation of a one-member committee to investigate the procurement of services for the OSM system by the CBSE.