No answers, no accountability: Rahul Gandhi attacks PM over CBSE controversy

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, joined the growing debate around CBSE’s evaluation system, alleging large-scale irregularities in the board’s result process and demanding an independent investigation into the company linked to the newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) mechanism.

In a sharp attack on the Centre, Gandhi also questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over concerns raised by students and parents. “And Mr. Modi? As always, no answers, no accountability, no shame,” Gandhi wrote in his post, while referring to complaints linked to CBSE’s evaluation and re-evaluation processes.

The Congress leader raised questions over accountability in awarding contracts associated with the digital marking system and sought an independent judicial inquiry along with a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the matter.

Addressing students directly, Gandhi referred to Gen Z as “comrades”, saying their hard work and future should not be compromised. He wrote that “no one will be able to steal” the efforts of students and promised to pursue the issue further.

"CBSE's Gen Z comrades, your hard work, your future, no one will be able to steal it," he wrote on X.

COEMPT, CBSE AND MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

The Congress leader also raised concerns over COEMPT, a company allegedly associated with the OSM mechanism. Gandhi claimed the company had previously operated under another name and had faced controversy in Telangana in 2019.

He questioned why such a firm was awarded responsibility linked to CBSE’s evaluation process.

Gandhi posed a series of questions, including how the contract was awarded, whether standard procedures were followed and if background checks were conducted before assigning responsibilities connected to the evaluation system.

Among the questions raised were:

Why was the contract awarded to the company, and who approved it?

Were procurement rules or procedures bypassed during the process?

If previous controversies existed, were due diligence checks carried out?

Is there any connection between the company’s management and the government?

The LoP demanded an independent judicial inquiry and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to examine the matter and identify accountability if irregularities are found.

The remarks come at a time when CBSE is facing scrutiny over its post-result processes. Several students have alleged discrepancies in scanned answer sheets, including claims of handwriting mismatches, missing pages and delayed access to evaluated copies.

During its press conference, the board stated that over 13,000 answer sheets out of nearly 9.8 million evaluated copies were manually reviewed following discrepancies.

CBSE later said, on the evening of May 26, that more than 4 lakh applications had been received for scanned Class 12 answer sheets, indicating that nearly one in every four students who appeared for the board examinations wanted to review their evaluated copies.

CBSE has also defended its systems in recent days, rejecting allegations of security breaches and maintaining that safeguards are in place within the OSM and evaluation mechanisms.

The OSM system was introduced by CBSE this year as part of efforts to digitise answer sheet evaluation and improve transparency. However, the mechanism has increasingly come under discussion following complaints raised during the re-evaluation stage.