New Delhi, May 29: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday renewed allegations over the Central Board of Secondary Education’s digital evaluation contract process, demanding an independent judicial inquiry into the awarding of the On-screen Marking Scheme contract to an allegedly ineligible EdTech company.
The Congress leader raised questions over the selection process after recent glitches in the CBSE’s digital evaluation system triggered concerns regarding transparency and reliability in the Class 12 board examination assessment process.
Sharing a media report on social media platform X, Gandhi questioned the Union government’s handling of the issue and accused authorities of failing to provide accountability regarding the award of the contract.
Gandhi alleged that the contract for the On-screen Marking Scheme was awarded to a company identified as COEMPT instead of Tata Consultancy Services and claimed that eligibility conditions were diluted to facilitate the selection.
He stated that merely asserting that due procedure was followed did not answer concerns regarding whether the contract had been awarded to the most capable company for conducting a sensitive national-level evaluation process involving lakhs of students.
“The futures of 18.5 lakh children were handed to a company that could only qualify after the rules were bent for it,” Gandhi said in his social media statement.
The Congress leader also sought a wider probe into all contracts allegedly awarded to the company and reiterated his demand for a judicial investigation into the matter.
The controversy follows the emergence of complaints linked to the CBSE’s digital evaluation process after a Class 12 student reportedly received another candidate’s Physics answer sheet, raising questions about safeguards within the newly introduced system.
The issue sparked nationwide debate regarding fairness, transparency and operational reliability in the digital evaluation mechanism adopted for board examinations.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had earlier acknowledged glitches in the evaluation system and accepted responsibility for the shortcomings while assuring corrective measures.
The Central Board of Secondary Education also responded to the allegations and rejected claims of procedural impropriety in awarding the contract.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, the CBSE stated that allegations regarding irregularities were “erroneous, misleading and not based on facts”.
The board maintained that it had followed General Financial Rules and proper procurement procedures while awarding the contract.
According to CBSE, the Request for Proposal for digital evaluation of answer books for Board Exams 2026 was floated on the Central Public Procurement portal on August 28, 2025, and the contract was awarded to the qualified bidder after completion of the prescribed process.
The dispute has intensified political exchanges between the Congress and the BJP over examination governance and transparency in education-related procurement processes.
