'I take responsibility': Dharmendra Pradhan on CBSE On-Screen Marking row, digital evaluation firm begs to differ

Amid the raging controversy over CBSE’s On-Screen Marking system, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said that he takes responsibility and assured students and parents that "no one will be spared" if irregularities are found in the evaluation process. His remarks came amid continuing complaints from students over blurred scanned copies, alleged unchecked answers, portal crashes, payment issues and confusion during the re-evaluation process.

Speaking after a meeting with CBSE officials in Delhi, Pradhan defended the Board’s new digital evaluation model while acknowledging the stress faced by students. The issue has also turned political, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi questioning the handling of the matter and seeking accountability.

"I take responsibility. It will be fixed, and a solution will be found. We are all working on that task," Pradhan said. Referring to the scale of the exercise, he said, "Out of the 17 lakh students who took the exam, we have maintained the answer scripts of 98 lakh copies."

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According to him, each answer book contains around 40 pages, taking the total number of scanned pages to nearly "40 crore scanned copies". He described the On-Screen Marking system, or OSM, as "a progressive instrument" that is already being adopted by institutions globally to provide transparent information to students about their marks.

Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s criticism, Pradhan said CBSE had already clarified its position and insisted that the process followed government procurement rules. "I want to assure everyone that if any irregularities are found, no one will be spared," he said.

Accusing Rahul Gandhi of repeatedly opposing systems linked to "Digital India" and scientific progress, the minister said, "Politics can be done later. Right now, the most important thing is that the mental stress of these students and examinees should not increase further."

He also appealed to political leaders and the public not to make statements that could worsen anxiety among students already worried about marks, verification and re-evaluation.

Meanwhile, VSN Raju, CEO of Coempt Edu Tech defended the digital evaluation platform. Raju said in an interview with The News Minute that the complaints flagged so far are "isolated" and don't indicate a broader technological failure.

“It's not that the entire system is wrong or that so many issues have come up. That's absolutely a wrong allegation,” said Raju, describing the complaints as “one of its kind”.

The controversy began after thousands of students reported problems while accessing scanned copies of their evaluated answer sheets. Many said pages appeared blurred or incomplete, while others alleged that answers were left unchecked or incorrectly marked. Several students and parents also reported repeated payment failures and portal crashes during peak traffic hours.

CBSE later extended the deadline for applying for scanned answer books and issued a public statement urging students to "not feel anxious", while assuring them that all genuine concerns would be reviewed by subject experts.