CBSE OSM Crisis: Leadership Overhaul, One-Member Probe Ordered as Digital Evaluation System Unravels

Leadership Overhaul at CBSE Headquarters

On June 2, 2026, the Centre appointed IAS officer Prashant Sitaram Lokhande of the 2001 AGMUT cadre, former Additional Secretary at the Union Home Ministry, as CBSE Chairman, replacing Rahul Singh who was sent to the Agriculture Ministry. Simultaneously, Varun Bhardwaj, a 2008-batch Indian Information Service officer who served in the Education Ministry, was named CBSE Secretary, replacing Himanshu Gupta who was prematurely repatriated to the Home Ministry on administrative grounds. These transfers followed directly from the digital evaluation failures that surfaced after Class 12 results.

OSM System Implementation and Result Declaration

The On-Screen Marking system, under which evaluators assess scanned copies instead of physical answer books, was introduced this year for Class 12 examinations. Results declared on May 13, 2026, recorded an 85.2% pass rate, down from 88.39% in 2025. The answer sheet portal opened on May 19 and received 1.26 lakh applications in the first three hours, triggering technical disruptions and cyberattack attempts. CBSE later deployed cybersecurity experts to address the concerns.

Documented Irregularities in Digital Evaluation

Between May 23 and 24, students shared complaints of blurred scans, unevaluated answers, answer sheets belonging to other candidates, mix-ups of answer sheets, evaluation errors, faulty checking, misallocation of grades, and payment failures. On May 29, CBSE penalized Hyderabad-based Coempt Edu Teck, the vendor responsible for digital scanning and the OSM system. Student Sarthak Sidhant presented findings on irregularities in the Coempt contract to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, receiving praise from committee members.

Centre Orders One-Member Inquiry

On June 2, the Department of Personnel and Training announced a one-member inquiry committee headed by S Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, with the report due within one month. The re-evaluation portal remains open until June 6 midnight, but only students who obtained scanned copies can apply. These steps mark the first formal central intervention into the OSM rollout.

Implications for Indian Students and Examination Governance

The crisis directly affects lakhs of Class 12 candidates whose results determine college admissions across central universities and state boards. The abrupt leadership changes and one-month timeline for the Capacity Building Commission inquiry signal that digital governance reforms in high-stakes examinations require stronger vendor oversight and data integrity protocols. For parents and students in states such as Delhi, Maharashtra, and Telangana, the episode underscores the need for hybrid verification mechanisms until OSM systems achieve full reliability under CBSE’s policy framework.