New Delhi: Hours within ordering an enquiry into the OSM system tender, the Centre replaced two of CBSEs top officials. The simultaneous moves by the government have turned the boards digital evaluation controversy into of the most politically charged debate amongst parties. Attacking the government, opponents dubbed the move as an ‘eyewash’ and ‘cover-up’ demanding the removal of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The board on Tuesday, transferred CBSE chairman Rahul Singh and secretary Himanshu Gupta replacing them by senior bureaucrats Prashant Lokhande and Varun Bhardwaj respectively, the government said in separate notifications.
Simultaneously, a one member committee comprising etired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer S Radha Chauhan was constituted to probe into matter pertaining to OSM system procurement by the board. A Cabinet Secretariat office memorandum said, “committee will submit its report to the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) within a month.”
Who are the new leaders?
Lokhande Prashant Sitaram who replaced Rahul Singh is a 2001 batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer who was serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Home under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The outgoing chairman is a 1996 batch Bihar cadre officer now being charged as an Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Varun Bhardwaj, the incoming Secretary will serve until September 2027, under the Central Staffing Scheme. He is a 2008-batch Indian Information Service officer who was posted as Director in the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.
Himanshu Gupta returned to his parent cadre the Ministry of Home Affairs which the Personnel Ministry order describes as ‘administrative grounds’ which makes him ineligible for another central deputation until December 12, 2030.
CBSE has been under the scanner for a while now. Beginning with Class 12 marks drama to technical glitches, payment-related problems, delays in verification and re-evaluation results, and, most seriously, allegations that scanned answer sheets made available by the board did not match students’ own handwriting, and now the OSM system.
CBSE has acknowledged the discrepancies and promised to revise marking.
Coempt, a Hyderabad based Edutech company had acquired the tender to provide its services for OSM, just 74 days before the first board examinations began on February 17.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News