NEW DELHI: As the controversy over the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) On Screen Marking (OSM) system has entered an even more politically explosive phase, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi directly questioned how the digital assessment contract was awarded and whether the tender conditions were gradually relaxed to favor a particular company.In a strongly worded post on X on Friday, Rahul Gandhi accused the CBSE of repeatedly undermining technical requirements after failing to secure qualified bidders during the first rounds of tenders. He alleged that the eventual winner, COEMPT, qualified only after narrowing down the scanning criteria, software maturity and infrastructure requirements.“Read this story. Carefully,” wrote Rahul Gandhi before launching a detailed attack on the tendering process behind the OSM rollout.“CBSE called for OSM tenders three times. Zero bids the first time. No qualified bidders the second time. And finally, the technical bar was lowered until COEMPT could clear it,” he wrote.The remarks come at a time when the CBSE is already facing increased scrutiny over complaints related to the digital evaluation system introduced for the 2026 class 12 board exams. Students across the country have alleged blurred answer sheets, missing pages, scanned copies and technical glitches during the re-examination process.What makes the latest political attack significant is that it moves the controversy away from mere operational glitches to the larger question of how the system itself was acquired and implemented.“The rules keep changing until someone qualifies.”According to documents reviewed by Hindustan Times and details provided by Rahul Gandhi, CBSE floated tenders for the OSM project three separate times before finally awarding the contract.No bids were reportedly received in the first round. In the second round, no bidder was technically qualified. It was only during the third tender process, which was issued in August 2025 – barely six months before the nationwide implementation – that several key conditions were amended.Those changes are now at the center of controversy.Rahul Gandhi alleged that the board gradually reduced the technicalities to ensure that the process eventually emerged a winner.“Scanning resolution cut. Need for robotic scanners reduced. CMMI certification downgraded from level 5 to level 3. Penalties for mistakes in answer sheets removed,” he wrote.The Congress leader also pointed out that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), one of India’s largest IT companies, had reportedly qualified technically in the final round but still lost the contract to COEMPT during the financial evaluation stage.“TCS, India’s largest IT services company, qualified in the third round as well. TCS lost. COEMPT – a company with an impressive track record of failure – won,” alleged Rahul Gandhi.The post immediately increased political pressure on both the CBSE and the Union Ministry of Education, especially since the allegations are now linking the procurement process directly to the operational grievances that students are currently raising.“And what are CBSE students complaining about these days?” Rahul Gandhi asked. “Badly scanned answer sheets. Missing pages. A broken assessment portal.”What exactly changed in tenders?Details emerging from the tender documents depict significant modifications between the first unsuccessful rounds and the final successful bidding process.One of the most discussed changes concerns the quality of the scanning resolution.The initial tender conditions reportedly required the answer sheets to be scanned at a minimum resolution of 300 DPI or higher. In the last tender in August, this was “relaxed to at least 200 DPI, provided the content remains clearly readable.”This detail has taken on new importance as poor quality of scans is now one of the biggest complaints raised by students accessing scanned answer sheets.Several students have alleged that parts of their answers appeared blurred, unclear or incomplete during the retest.Teachers participating in the digital assessment process had earlier privately expressed similar concerns.As reported earlier, the evaluators claimed that they often encountered blurry scans, missing pages, incomplete supplementary sheets and server instability while checking the Class 12 answer books digitally.Another major change involves scanning infrastructure requirements.The February and May tenders reportedly mandated “automated or robotic high-speed scanning infrastructure” and specified that answer books should be scanned without cutting the spine of documents.The August tender eliminated the need for robotic scanning altogether.Similarly, the Mandatory Competency Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) certification – an internationally recognized software process maturity standard – was reportedly downgraded from Level 5 to Level 3.This effectively widened the pool of companies eligible to participate.There were also dramatic changes in the structure of punishment.The earlier tender draft had allegedly imposed very stiff penalties for operational errors, including a fine of Rs 20,000 per wrongly scanned copy and Rs 50,000 for unscanned booklets.By the August tender, the penalty system had moved away from errors per copy and was focusing more on operational deadlines.“Teachers warned the board”The controversy has also revived concerns over whether CBSE rushed the OSM rollout despite internal warnings from evaluators and schools.Rahul Gandhi claimed that teachers involved in the trial run had warned the board that the system needed a lot of preparation before it could be implemented nationwide.“Educators had warned CBSE that the OSM system needed at least a year or two of further preparation before it could be rolled out across the country, yet it was launched at the earliest,” he wrote.The claim mirrors concerns that have been repeatedly expressed by analysts over the past few weeks.Several teachers involved in the digital checking process had earlier said the training lasted barely a week and many examinees struggled to adapt to the lengthy screen-based assessment under tight timelines.A Delhi-based analyst had earlier said: “Technology is not the problem. Poor preparation is.”Another teacher described the change as “quick from the start”.“You cannot suddenly move millions of answer sheets into a fully digital environment without years of calibration and testing,” the evaluator said.CBSE says due process was followed.CBSE officials have vehemently denied allegations that tender terms were diluted in favor of a particular company.According to reports, earlier tenders failed due to operational and procedural limitations within the original Request for Proposal (RFP) structure.A senior board official reportedly said that the changes introduced in the third round were aimed at making the process “more practical” and ensuring successful participation.“This should not be seen as a hasty move, but rather to correct the shortcomings of the previous round to achieve higher results,” the official said.CBSE has also defended the procurement process saying that the company was selected under government procurement norms and was not blacklisted by any government agency.“We followed the government guidelines and regulations while selecting the company through the tender process,” said a board official.The board added that no payment has yet been released to the vendor and all operational issues, fines and complaints will be reviewed after the re-evaluation process and completion of supplementary examinations.“Due Process Not Accountability”Rahul Gandhi, however, rejected the CBSE’s explanation, arguing that procedural compliance alone does not answer these larger questions.“Pradhanji and CBSE say ‘due process was followed.’ That’s not an answer, that’s not accountability,” he wrote.“The question is whether the contract was honestly awarded to the best company that could do the job properly.”The Congress leader also renewed his demand for an independent judicial inquiry into the entire matter.“From day one, I have demanded an independent judicial probe. Extend it to every contract awarded to COEMPT from CBSE. Our youth deserve the truth,” he wrote.The political tension comes a day after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan publicly acknowledged the seriousness of the dispute and took responsibility for the suffering caused to the students.“I take responsibility for any inconvenience caused by the government itself,” Pradhan had said, appealing to political parties not to add to the students’ tension.But with fresh questions now emerging around the tendering process, the controversy appears far from over.Because the debate is no longer just about blurry answer sheets or technical glitches.There is growing concern over whether India’s biggest school testing reform was implemented before the system — or the country — was really ready for it.
