New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday appointed senior bureaucrats Lokhande Prashant Sitaram and Varun Bhardwaj as CBSE‘s new chairperson and secretary, respectively,
amid the controversy over the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.
A batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territories or AGMUT cadre, Sitaram is currently posted as an additional secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.
Singh, Gupta transferred to different depts
Singh has been appointed as an additional secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Gupta, a 2012 batch IAS officer, has been shifted to the Ministry of Home Affairs on “administrative grounds,” the order said. As per it, he will be eligible for another central deputation after December 12, 2030. Bharadwaj is currently posted as director, Ministry of Education.
Earlier in the day, the Centre transferred both Singh and Gupta from the CBSE amid allegations of irregularities in the digital evaluation system for the Class 12 examination process. In recent times, the board was embroiled in a controversy after some Class 12 students alleged that the scanned copies of their answer sheets, which the board uploaded, did not match their handwriting.
Students, parents raise concerns over OSM system
The students and parents have raised concerns over the implementation of the OSM system in the CBSE board examination process. In recent times, the board has been criticised over technical glitches, payment failures, and delays in the verification and re-evaluation process.
“The transfer of the CBSE Chairman and Secretary is a mere eyewash. Modi ji should immediately sack Dharmendra Pradhan. Nothing less than that would provide a sense of justice to 18.5 lakh CBSE students,” Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X.
