GUWAHATI: The Union government on Tuesday, June 2, appointed new leadership for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), replacing both its Chairperson and Secretary amid criticism over the Board’s recently introduced on-screen marking system for Class 12 examinations.
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Hours after issuing transfer orders, the Centre appointed Lokhande Prashant Sitaram as the new Chairperson of CBSE and Varun Bharadwaj as the Board’s next Secretary.
Sitaram, a 2001-batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Home under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has been appointed CBSE Chairperson in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary. He succeeds Rahul Singh, a 1996-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, who has been posted as Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Bharadwaj, a 2008-batch Indian Information Service officer currently serving as Director in the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education, has been appointed Secretary of CBSE on deputation under the Central Staffing Scheme. He replaces Himanshu Gupta, a 2012-batch AGMUT cadre IAS officer, who has been repatriated to his parent cadre in the Ministry of Home Affairs with an “extended cooling off” condition. According to the Cabinet order, Gupta will be eligible for another central deputation after December 2030.
The leadership changes come amid controversy surrounding CBSE’s decision to implement a fully digital On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for the evaluation of Class 12 answer scripts this year. Several students raised concerns over alleged technical issues, including blurred scans of answer sheets, missing pages and instances where candidates were reportedly shown another student’s answer script.
Meanwhile, the government has constituted a one-member committee to examine matters related to the procurement of services for the OSM system by CBSE. The inquiry panel will be headed by S Radha Chauhan, who currently serves as Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission.
The committee is expected to review issues linked to the implementation and procurement process of the digital evaluation system amid growing scrutiny from students and parents.