3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: May 28, 2026 04:05 PM IST
The political storm surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system intensified today when Congress member and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, launched an attack on Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, holding him responsible for the issues Class 12 students are facing since the results are out.
In a post on the microblogging site, X, Gandhi posed some questions for Pradhan. “Why was the CBSE OSM contract handed to COEMPT – a company already mired in controversy under its old name, Globarena? On whose orders was it done? Why were no background checks done? What is the connection between COEMPT’s management and the Modi government?” he posted.
Dharmendra Pradhan ji, you can attack me all you want but it won’t absolve you of your crimes. Nor will it stop me from demanding answers for 18.5 lakh children.
Why was the CBSE OSM contract handed to COEMPT – a company already mired in controversy under its old name,… https://t.co/Xy8MbBTnTL
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 28, 2026
He further said that Pradhan either ran a background check and proceeded anyway, or failed to conduct one at all — and that both scenarios made him complicit. He stated that if Prime Minister Modi truly cared about the students, he should have “sacked Pradhan long ago for ruining the futures of lakhs of students.”
The Education Minister replied, attacking Rahul Gandhi over his May 27 remarks, alleging that a firm with a murky past in Telangana was handed the contract by CBSE for digital evaluation of answer books. Pradhan said Gandhi is “frustrated” and “opposed” to India’s technological progress.
Meanwhile, Pradhan acknowledged “some discrepancies” in the ongoing CBSE Class 12 revaluation process today and said the government has accepted responsibility while assuring students that corrective measures would be taken and accountability fixed at all levels.
The minister also held a meeting with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) officials on Thursday and said no student grievance related to the evaluation and revaluation exercise would be left unresolved. The minister’s remarks come amid concerns raised by students and parents over discrepancies in marks, access to answer sheets, and the newly introduced digital evaluation system – On-Screen Marking (OSM).
“CBSE has begun the revaluation process for the Class 12 examinations. Around 17 lakh students took part, with nearly 98 lakh answer copies – about 40 crore scanned pages in total,” Pradhan said, underlining the scale of the exercise.