Congress on Monday, 1 June escalated its attack over the CBSE On-Screen Marking (OSM) system controversy, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and questioning why the Board intends only to penalise — rather than blacklist — the contractor allegedly responsible for lapses in the answer-sheet evaluation process.

What Congress Said

Congress General Secretary and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X: 'After denying cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the On Screen Marking (OSM) system, CBSE has finally acknowledged that the system was compromised.' He named COEMPT as the contractor that carried out the process for the Board, and argued that the proposed penalty fell far short of accountability.

Ramesh added: 'It appears that those benefiting from COEMPT within CBSE and the Ministry of Education were already aware that COEMPT would not prove capable for this job.'

The Blacklisting Clause That Was Removed

At the centre of Congress's allegation is a contractual reversal. According to Ramesh, CBSE's Request for Proposal (RFP) of August 2025 had explicitly reserved the Board's right to blacklist vendors who failed to deliver. However, in September 2025, the Board issued a corrigendum removing that very clause.

'This seems like an incomprehensible, government-backed effort to protect COEMPT, which had begun even before COEMPT officially received the contract,' Ramesh said. The sequence, critics argue, raises questions about whether the safeguard was deliberately dismantled to shield a preferred vendor.

Demand for Minister's Resignation

Ramesh trained his sharpest criticism on Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, saying: 'How long will the country tolerate Minister Pradhan, whose ministry not only allowed such unimaginable irregularities in the tender process but also shielded them, forcing lakhs of students to pay the price by losing their mental peace?'

He described Pradhan as 'a living example of arrogance and incompetence, stubbornly prioritising his political agenda over his responsibility to the nation.' On the question of Prime Ministerial accountability, Ramesh said: 'The Prime Minister has never been known to hold himself or his colleagues accountable to any standards of ethics and integrity. But Minister Pradhan should resign to fulfil his rajadharma.'

Background: The OSM System Controversy

The row erupted after CBSE acknowledged receiving complaints related to mismatched answer sheets and other lapses in its revaluation process — a day before Congress's latest broadside. The OSM system, which digitises and distributes answer scripts to examiners, had previously been defended by the Board as secure. The admission that the system was 'compromised' has drawn sharp reactions from opposition parties and student groups alike.

This comes amid broader scrutiny of examination integrity in India, following the NEET-UG controversy in 2024 that triggered nationwide protests and parliamentary debate. The CBSE episode, critics argue, points to systemic weaknesses in the outsourcing of sensitive examination infrastructure.

What Happens Next

The government has not yet responded publicly to Congress's latest demands. With lakhs of students' academic futures tied to the revaluation process, pressure is likely to mount on the Ministry of Education to clarify the contractual sequence and the adequacy of action against COEMPT. Whether the blacklisting clause reversal triggers a parliamentary inquiry remains to be seen.