New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday directed officials to take all necessary measures to ensure that issues faced by students are resolved in a timely, transparent and student-friendly manner.
Chairing a high-level review meeting at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) headquarters here, Pradhan said any lapses or negligence, whether within or outside the system, will not be tolerated and strict action will be taken in such cases.
The meeting came after the CBSE defended its digital evaluation system, saying the On Screen Marking System (OSM) process was backed by a "secure and robust IT platform".
The board said that the platform has been "tested and certified through empanelled security audits" and is supported by a "robust digital infrastructure" with multiple quality checks and safeguards for secure scanning and processing of answer books.
Held at the board's headquarters in Dwarka, the meeting was attended by School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar, CBSE Chairperson Rahul Singh, directors of IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur, and senior officials from the Ministry of Education, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, public sector banks and CBSE, the ministry said in a statement.
"During the meeting, the minister directed officials to take all necessary measures to ensure that issues faced by students are resolved in a timely, transparent and student-friendly manner," the statement said.
Pradhan reiterated the government's commitment to ensuring transparency, accountability and a student-centric examination system, while assuring students and parents that all genuine concerns would be addressed effectively and expeditiously.
The minister reviewed the progress of post-result services with a focus on strengthening student support systems, improving the evaluation and monitoring framework, enhancing the CBSE digital platform, and making examination-related services more accessible and efficient for students.
He was apprised that nearly 18 lakh students appeared for the Class 12 examinations this year, involving around 98 lakh answer sheets and nearly 40 crore scanned pages. So far, approximately four lakh students have accessed around 11 lakh scanned answer sheets through the portal.
Reiterating that students' interests remain the government's foremost priority, Pradhan assured strict action against any lapses and stated that no negligence, whether within or outside the system, would be tolerated, the statement said.
The minister also took note of reports related to login access issues, heavy server load and payment-related difficulties on the post-examination services portal.
According to the ministry, an expert technical team comprising professors from IIT Madras and specialists in digital systems has been tasked with reviewing portal stability, server capacity, login management and payment gateway integration to ensure seamless and uninterrupted services for students.
"The Ministry of Education is closely monitoring the situation," the statement said.
The review meeting came amid a political row over alleged discrepancies in the CBSE examination system after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that the Class 12 examination results had been marred by "massive irregularities".
Gandhi demanded an independent judicial inquiry and constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unearth the truth behind the "entire scam". He also alleged that a firm with a murky past in Telangana was handed the contract by CBSE for digital evaluation of answer books.
Pradhan said this was the first time CBSE had implemented the system on such a large scale and acknowledged that some discrepancies had come to notice.
"Certain discrepancies have come to our notice, and I take responsibility for them. These issues will be rectified, and appropriate solutions will be worked out," the minister said.
Pradhan also hit back at Gandhi over his remarks, saying the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha appeared "frustrated" and "opposed" to technological progress.
"But as far as Rahul Gandhi is concerned, he seems to have reached a different state of mind. Due to continuous electoral defeats, he appears frustrated. He opposed SIR, he used to oppose EVMs, and he opposed Digital India. He does not seem to stand with India's scientific progress," he said.
Pradhan took responsibility on behalf of the government for any "inconvenience" caused and urged that this was not the time for politics.
"I myself take responsibility on behalf of the government for any inconvenience, and I request everyone that this is not the time for politics. I have said this earlier as well. Politics can be done later," he said.
"The most important thing is that the mental stress of these students and examinees should not increase further. We appeal to everyone that no one's words or behaviour should add to their stress," the minister added.
However, Gandhi hit back at Pradhan over his comments, saying attacking him would not absolve the education minister of his crimes.
"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," Gandhi said in a post on X.
Posing a string of questions, Gandhi asked why the CBSE OSM contract was 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?" the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha asked.
"Either you ran a background check and went ahead anyway - or you didn't run one at all. Either way, you are complicit," his post read.
Gandhi asserted that if the prime minister truly cared about the situation, he should have dismissed Pradhan long ago for jeopardising the futures of countless students.
The CBSE had on Wednesday rejected allegations regarding the award of contract to Coempt Edutech, saying the claims were erroneous, misleading and not based on facts. It said the contract was awarded after following due procedure under the General Financial Rules.
The row escalated after many Class 12 students alleged scoring discrepancies and also that the scanned copies of their answer sheets uploaded by the Board did not match their handwriting, raising concerns over possible answer-sheet mismatch in the OSM system.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
