Amid a raging controversy over CBSE’s On-Screen Marking system, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took responsibility for the glitches and assured parents that "no one will be spared" if irregularities are found in the evaluation process.
"I take responsibility. It will be fixed; a solution will be found. We are all working on that task," he said.
Several class 12 students alleged scoring discrepancies and mismatches in the scanned copies of their answer sheets uploaded by the CBSE and their handwriting, raising concerns over possible mismatch in the OSM system. There were other complaints, too, such as blurred scanned copies, alleged unchecked answers, portal crashes, payment issues and confusion during the re-evaluation process.
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Pradhan defended the CBSE’s new digital evaluation model system, calling it "a progressive instrument" adopted by institutions around the world. "It is student-centric and designed for students, ensuring they receive transparent information about their marks," he said after a meeting with Board officials in Delhi.
The meeting, held at the Board's headquarters in Dwarka, was attended by School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar, CBSE chairperson Rahul Singh, directors of IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur, and senior officials from the Education Ministry, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, public sector banks and CBSE.
"Out of the 17 lakh students who took the exam, we have maintained the answer scripts of 98 lakh copies." Each answer book contains around 40 pages, taking the total number of scanned pages to nearly "40 crore scanned copies", he said.
The controversy took a political turn after Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the CBSE examination results have been marred by "massive irregularities" and demanded accountability from the Union government. He demanded an independent judicial inquiry and constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to expose the "entire scam". He had also alleged that the CBSE gave the contract for digital evaluation of answer books to a firm with a shady history in Telangana.
Pradhan hit back at Rahul Gandhi today, saying he was "frustrated" and "opposed" to India's technological progress. "Yesterday, CBSE gave its response regarding this matter. It is in accordance with the procurement policy of the Government of India. I want to assure everyone that if any irregularities are found, no one will be spared.
"But, as far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, he seems to have reached a different state of mind. Due to continuous electoral defeats, he appears frustrated. He opposed SIR, he used to oppose EVMs, and he opposed Digital India. He does not seem to stand with India's scientific progress," Pradhan said.
He urged political leaders not to politicise the matter and refrain from causing more mental stress to the students.
