The Congress party has strongly criticised the Central Government over reported technical glitches in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examination evaluation and post-result services system.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that the introduction of the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 board examinations has led to widespread disruption affecting lakhs of students across India.

According to him, the system has resulted in multiple issues including blurred and illegible answer scripts, incorrect mapping of answer sheets to students, delays in processing, and excessive re-evaluation charges being imposed on students.

He further claimed that these problems have contributed to a decline in the Class 12 pass percentage from 88 per cent to 85 per cent, describing the situation as a reflection of administrative failure.

Ramesh accused the Education Minister of presiding over what he termed an institutional breakdown, stating that the ministry reacted late to the crisis and only moved to involve experts from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur after complaints escalated.

He questioned why proper planning and technical safeguards were not implemented before rolling out the OSM system and why the issues were not anticipated earlier.

The Congress leader demanded the resignation of the Education Minister, referring to him in a politically charged manner, and also said the Prime Minister must explain why the minister has been allowed to continue despite the alleged mismanagement.

In response, the Education Ministry stated that IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur experts would be deployed to examine and resolve technical issues in CBSE’s post-result services portal.

The government maintained that student interests remain a priority and that corrective measures are being taken to ensure a more transparent, stable, and efficient evaluation system.The intervention follows increasing complaints from students and parents regarding glitches in re-evaluation and related services.