Justice demands mantri pradhan be sacked: Congress on CBSE reshuffle

The Congress criticised the transfer of the CBSE chairman and secretary amid the OSM controversy, alleging the move shifts blame to bureaucrats while shielding political leadership. The party demanded Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, citing accountability for alleged irregularities

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday said the transfer of CBSE chairman Rahul Singh and secretary Himanshu Gupta is an attempt to fix accountability on bureaucrats rather than the political leadership, and asserted that justice demands the “Mantri Pradhan” be sacked.

The opposition party alleged that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been presiding over a “monumentally corrupt, inept, and incompetent ecosystem” that has played havoc with the lives of lakhs of youth.

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Earlier in the day, the CBSE chairman and secretary were shunted out of the national educational board in the wake of alleged irregularities in the digital evaluation system for the Class 12 examination process, officials said.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has been engulfed in a controversy after some Class 12 students alleged that the scanned copies of their answer sheets uploaded by the board did not match their handwriting, raising concerns over possible answer-sheet mismatch in the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the CBSE officials have been transferred, but justice requires that the “Mantri Pradhan be sacked”. “The CBSE leadership’s unceremonious exit and the constitution of the one-member committee to investigate the procurement of the CBSE’s On Screen Marking (OSM) system prove that irregularities were committed,” he said on X.

This is a testament to the ingenuity and skill of Gen Z students, who exposed this scandal online and even brought it to the notice of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education under the Chairmanship of Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday, Ramesh said.

“Today’s action, clearly timed for after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education’s meeting with the CBSE Board, is an attempt to distract and fix accountability on bureaucrats rather than the political leadership,” Ramesh said.

It should be remembered that the CBSE chairperson was given a two-year extension by the Cabinet Committee on Appointments as recently as November 2025, he said.

“The Mantri Pradhan has been presiding over a monumentally corrupt, inept, and incompetent ecosystem that has played havoc with the lives of lakhs of youth. He needs to resign immediately,” Ramesh said.

Concerns were raised by students and parents over the implementation of the OSM system in the CBSE board examination process.

The board has faced criticism over technical glitches, payment failures and delays in the verification and re-evaluation process, prompting demands for greater transparency and accountability.