NEW DELHI: The controversy surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE's) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system has escalated politically, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi directly questioning the contract award process. In a strongly worded post on X, he alleged that tender conditions were gradually relaxed to favour a particular company.
Rahul Gandhi's Allegations
Rahul Gandhi accused CBSE of repeatedly diluting technical requirements after failing to secure qualified bidders in earlier tender rounds. He claimed the eventual winner, COEMPT, only qualified after critical standards were lowered. 'CBSE called for OSM tenders thrice. Zero bids the first time. No qualified bidder the second time. And finally, the technical bar was lowered until COEMPT could clear it,' he wrote.
Changes in Tender Conditions
According to documents reviewed, CBSE floated tenders three times before awarding the contract. The first round received no bids; the second had no qualified bidders. In the third tender, issued in August 2025, several conditions were modified:
- Scanning resolution was reduced from 300 DPI to 200 DPI.
- Robotic scanning requirements were dropped.
- CMMI certification was lowered from Level 5 to Level 3.
- Penalties for errors were removed.
Rahul Gandhi pointed out that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) qualified technically but lost to COEMPT in the financial evaluation. 'TCS, India's biggest IT services company, qualified in the third round too. TCS lost. COEMPT — a company with a spectacular track record of failure — won,' he alleged.
Operational Complaints
Students have reported blurred answer sheets, missing pages, and technical failures during re-evaluation. Rahul Gandhi linked these issues to the procurement process: 'And what are CBSE students complaining about today? Badly scanned answer sheets. Missing pages. A broken evaluation portal.'
Teachers' Warnings
Teachers involved in trial runs had cautioned the Board that the system needed at least a year of preparation before nationwide implementation. One evaluator said: 'You cannot suddenly shift lakhs of answer sheets into a fully digital environment without years of calibration and testing.'
CBSE's Response
CBSE officials denied the allegations, stating that changes were made to make the process more practical. A senior official said: 'This should not be viewed as a rushed undertaking, but rather as rectifying shortcomings of previous rounds.' CBSE also noted that no payment has been released to the vendor yet.
Demand for Probe
Rahul Gandhi rejected CBSE's explanation, demanding an independent judicial investigation. 'The question is whether the contract was honestly awarded to the best company which could do the job correctly,' he wrote.
The controversy has shifted from operational glitches to the procurement process, raising questions about the readiness of India's largest school examination reform.
