Centre shunts out CBSE Chairman and Secretary over OSM row, probe panel set up

New Delhi: In a significant clampdown, the Central government on Tuesday transferred CBSE Chairman and Secretary and formed an inquiry committee to conduct a thorough probe into the On-Screen marking controversy.

The move comes amid growing anger and outrage among the students and their parents over alleged irregularities and gaps in the On-screen marking controversy.

The One-Member Committee will be chaired by Ms S Radha Chauhan, Chairperson, Capacity Building Commission. The Committee will submit its report within a month to the Department of Personnel & Training.

The inquiry panel will probe the procurement of On-Screen Marking (OSM) services by CBSE, which has been mired in a raging row over claims of guidelines relaxations to favour any particular vendor.

Rahul Singh is the current CBSE chairman, while Himanshu Gupta is the CBSE’s Secretary as well as Chief Administrative Officer. With the government’s crackdown on alleged malpractices, both top officials have been shunted out of their positions.

The development comes amid an escalating controversy over the board’s newly introduced On-screen marking (OSM) system.

The one-member committee has been asked to investigate the procurement of On-Screen Marking (OSM) services and submit its findings to the government.

The digital evaluation mechanism was introduced by CBSE this year for Class 12 board exams. Under the new system, evaluators assessed scanned copies of answer sheets instead of physical answer books.

Meanwhile, the CBSE opened a re-evaluation portal for students on Tuesday, amid growing backlash over the controversy.

According to an official notice issued by CBSE, the portal became operational on June 2 and will remain open until midnight on June 6. During this period, eligible students can apply for verification of issues observed in their scanned answer books and request re-evaluation of specific answers if they are dissatisfied with the assessment.

CBSE clarified that only those students who have already obtained scanned copies of their evaluated answer books are eligible to avail themselves of these facilities.

IANS