“The CBSE not only failed to heed this wise counsel of delaying OSM adoption, but also failed to resolve many of the specific issues flagged by the participants,” Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Congress on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) mounted a sharp attack on Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the controversy surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE)On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, alleging that he was “shamelessly digging his heels in office” despite mounting evidence of “incompetence and corruption” in his Ministry.
The transfer of the CBSE’s top leadership had failed to address the issue of accountability at the highest levels of the Education Ministry, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said.
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“The CBSE leadership may have been transferred out, but the Mantri Pradhan (Minister Dharmendra Pradhan) is shamelessly digging his heels in office even while evidence of his Ministry’s incompetence and corruption piles up,” Mr. Ramesh said in a post on social media platform X.
Alleging that Mr. Pradhan headed a “corrupt, incompetent, and callous” Ministry, Mr. Ramesh referred to reports that the CBSE had been unable to satisfactorily answer questions on the procurement process for the OSM system before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, chaired by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.
“We have learnt from media reporting that the CBSE could not answer questions regarding its OSM procurement raised by the Digvijaya Singh-led Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, after it heard from 18-year-old student Sarthak Sidhant, who had first flagged the corruption in the tender via social media,” Mr. Ramesh said.
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Calling it “a glaring lack of accountability at the highest level of the CBSE and Education Ministry”, Mr. Ramesh also cited a media investigation into the CBSE’s OSM dry run. According to him, several participants had flagged concerns over the system, and urged the Board to postpone its rollout until glitches were resolved and evaluators adequately trained.
“The CBSE not only failed to heed this wise counsel of delaying OSM adoption, but also failed to resolve many of the specific issues flagged by the participants,” the Congress leader said.
Mr. Ramesh further alleged that the Board had repeatedly failed to meet deadlines for re-evaluation requests. “We already know that the CBSE has consistently failed to meet its own deadline for re-evaluations of student papers. It first postponed the date from May 29th and then failed to meet its own June 1st deadline. When the portal finally opened on June 2nd, several students faced trouble accessing it, and making payments on it,” he said.
“Why is the Pradhan Mantri (PM) insistent on protecting him? Whose patronage has ensured his survival so far?” Mr. Ramesh said, claiming that even supporters of the ruling alliance were dissatisfied with the Minister’s performance.
On Tuesday (June 2, 2026), the Cabinet Secretariat announced the constitution of a one-member inquiry committee headed by S. Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, to examine matters relating to the procurement of services for the OSM system by the CBSE.
Published – June 03, 2026 06:45 pm IST
