Sardhak Sidhant appears before Parliamentary panel to explain tender anomalies
NEW DELHI: Days after the CBSE's glitch-marred digital evaluation system inflicted a harrowing time on Class 12 students, the Centre shunted out board chairman Rahul Singh and secretary Himanshu Gupta and constituted a one-member committee to probe the controversial procurement of services for on-screen marking.
The Centre also appointed senior IAS officers Lokhande Prashant Sitaram and Varun Bhardwaj as chairman and secretary.
The probe committee, to be chaired by S. Radha Chauhan, chairperson, Capacity Building Commission, will inquire into matters relating to the procurement of services for the on-screen marking system by the CBSE.
Chauhan has been empowered to obtain the assistance of officials from other departments, as required, while the Capacity Building Commission will provide secretarial assistance to the panel. The committee will submit its report to the department of personnel and training within one month.
Elsewhere, Sardhak Sidhant, a 17-year-old student from Jharkhand affected by the CBSE's on-screen marking system (OSM), appeared before a parliamentary panel where he pointed out the anomalies in the tendering process of the CBSE to select vendors for online marking and put forth a set of questions for the board.
Sidhant presented a seven-page copy of his findings before the parliamentary committee for education, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh.
At the centre of the row is the selection of Coempt Edu Teck, a Hyderabad-based company, after the alleged dilution of tender standards. The company has been accused of having a controversial past, including alleged involvement in the erroneous marking of Intermediate exam papers in Telangana, which led to the suicide deaths of 23 students.
The committee had summoned top officials of the CBSE and the ministry of school education to discuss the issue of using OSM in the Class 12 board exams and the problems faced by students. The panel also discussed applying the three-language formula in Classes 9 and 10 with the education ministry officials.
On whether he was satisfied with the CBSE's replies, panel chairman Digvijaya Singh said, “That is for the committee to decide.” He did not respond to the three-language formula issue either, saying, “I believe the matter is sub judice.”
In a related development, Congress's student wing NSUI moved the Delhi High Court seeking an independent enquiry into the alleged large-scale irregularities. The public interest litigation (PIL) petition by the National Students' Union of India also sought manual rechecking and physical verification of answer sheets of aggrieved students. It is likely to be heard by a vacation bench of the High Court on June 8.
The PIL seeks a direction to the CBSE to keep its portal open for verification and revaluation of answer sheets of affected students for one month.
Coming down heavily over the move, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a post on X, said, “CBSE chairman transferred. CBSE secretary transferred. A one-member 'inquiry' committee was formed. But the real culprit, Dharmendra Pradhan, is safe. Officials removed. Minister spared. This isn't accountability — it's a cover-up." He added, “our demand remains the same: dismiss the minister and conduct an independent judicial inquiry.“
