Following the recent complaints around CBSE's new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system and allegations of the board tweaking contract requirements to favour
a Hyderabad-based company, the Centre today decided to transfer the top two officials of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). However, the opposition leaders are not happy with the decision and have called it a 'cosmetic exercise'. The former Chief Minister of Delhi and AAP National Convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, questioned if the decision is a punishment or protection. "What? CBSE Chairman and Secretary transferred? Bas? Is that govt’s response to such a huge scandal? Is that a punishment or protection?" he tweeted. Congress’ Jairam Ramesh called this decision 'clearly timed', and demanded that 'Mantri Pradhan be sacked'. "Today’s action, clearly timed for after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education’s meeting with the CBSE Board, is an attempt to distract and fix accountability on bureaucrats rather than the political leadership. It should be remembered that CBSE Chairperson Rahul Singh had been given a two-year extension by the Cabinet Committee on Appointments as recently as November 2025," he tweeted. Calling for a resignation of the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Jairam Ramesh further tweeted: "The Mantri Pradhan has been presiding over a monumentally corrupt, inept, and incompetent ecosystem that has played havoc with the lives of lakhs of youth. He needs to resign immediately."
Manoj Kumar Jha, the national spokesperson of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has slammed the BJP government for attempting to 'make headlines' rather than addressing structural failures. "Transferring a few officials from an organisation i.e. #CBSE that has shattered the dreams of thousands of students should not be portrayed by the media as a "decisive action" or a "master stroke." At best, it is a 'cosmetic exercise'; an attempt to 'manage headlines' without addressing the deeper structural failures. The real issue is not a 'handful of officials' but a government that has repeatedly failed its young people," he tweeted on X.
Anurag Dhanda, national media in-charge of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), too bashed the Modi-led government for transferring officials that were not chosen by the people of India. "Why no action on Education Minister? Why not resignation of PM Modi? People voted for them, not the CBSE chairman. Modi government failed badly.," he tweeted.
The decision to transfer the top officials of CBSE comes amid mounting scrutiny over the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Secretariat today (June 2) has set up a one-member committee to probe the procurement of services for CBSE’s On-Screen Marking System (OSM). The committee, headed by S Radha Chauhan, has been asked to submit its report within one month to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
CBSE's OSM system has been at the centre of controversy since the class 12 results were released on May 13, 2026.
