OSM system backed by secure, robust IT platform, says CBSE

Central Board of Secondary Education defended its On-Screen Marking System as secure amid controversy over Class 12 answer-sheet evaluation. The Board denied vulnerabilities and contract irregularities, while opposition leader Rahul Gandhi demanded a judicial probe over alleged exam-evaluation discrepancies and student concerns 

New Delhi: Amid the controversy over its On-Screen Marking System, the CBSE on Thursday asserted that it was a “secure and robust IT platform” and that no compromise or vulnerability has been reported in the actual evaluation portal.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) also said that the platform has been “tested and certified through empanelled security audits” and is supported by a “robust digital infrastructure” with multiple quality checks and safeguards for secure scanning and processing of answer books.

---

Addressing students, the Board said on X that answer books are “safe” and have been processed through “multiple quality-control mechanisms”.

The statement comes amid controversy over the award of a contract related to digital evaluation of answer books for class 12 board exams 2026 to a firm and claims circulating on social media regarding the alleged compromise of its OSM system.

The CBSE had on Wednesday rejected allegations regarding the award of contract to Coempt Edutech, saying the claims were erroneous, misleading and not based on facts.

It said the contract was awarded after following due procedure under the General Financial Rules.

The Board’s response came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded an independent judicial probe as well as a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unearth the truth behind the “entire scam”, and alleged that a firm with a murky past in Telangana was handed the contract by the Board.

Gandhi had said CBSE students and their parents are traumatised but Prime Minister Narendra Modi “has nothing to say.” In a video put out on his social media accounts, Gandhi said unbelievable details are emerging about the class 12 CBSE exam.

“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,” the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Many class 12 students have alleged scoring discrepancies and mismatches in the scanned copies of their answer sheets uploaded by the Board and their handwriting, casting a doubt on the OSM system.