THE CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION (CBSE) has found itself at the centre of a major controversy these past few days over faults found in its On-Screen Marking (OSM) portal. Consequently, on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, the central government has moved CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta, marking a significant administrative shuffle within the education board. 

The Centre has also announced the formation of a one-member committee to look into the procurement for services for the OSM portal. The committee, chaired by S Radha Chauhan (who is also the Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission), will be submitting its report to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) within a month.

Former CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh oversaw the Board's overall functioning, including examinations, academics, affiliations, policy implementation and major reforms, while coordinating with the Ministry of Education. On the other hand, Himanshu Gupta headed key administrative functions such as administration, finance and affiliations, and played a central role in CBSE's day-to-day operations and policy implementation across its nationwide school and examination network. 

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Why is the CBSE under controversy?

This decision comes after the CBSE has received some major flak over its failure to properly safeguard its portal, raising issues about its functioning and security. 

The controversy erupted after students raised issues over the scanned copies of their answerbooks after Class 10th and 12th results were declared. They pointed out that the scanned copies they received were blurred and missing sections. Some even alleged that the copies they received weren't even their own.

On May 22, 2026, a 19-year-old ethical hacker named Nisarga Adhikari, in his blog post, exposed vulnerabilities in the CBSE’s OSM portal. He revealed how scanned copies of students' exam sheets are publicly accessible, and that marks could be altered easily on the portal. The education board, denying the allegations at first, eventually acknowledged the faults in the portal. 

Who is the new CBSE Chairman and Secretary?

Lokhande Prashant Sitaram has been appointed as the newest chairman of CBSE. Sitaram is 2001-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT Cadre, and served as Additional Secretary, Department of Home, Ministry of Home Affairs.

Varun Bhardwaj is CBSE’s new secretary. He is a 2008-batch Indian Information Service officer, and was the Director of Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education.

Meanwhile, the former CBSE Chief Rahul Singh has been transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, wherein he will be serving as Additional Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare. 

Himanshu Gupta, the former CBSE secretary, has been transferred back to his original parent cadre, the Ministry of Home Affairs. His ‘premature repatriation’ is based on ‘administrative grounds’ with the condition of ‘extended cooling off.’ “He will be eligible for another Central deputation after 12.12.2030,” the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) order stated.

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As per official reports, the ex-secretary was part of a committee that approved the appointment of the Hyderabad-based software firm, Coempt Eduteck, as service provider for the OSM portal. The firm's performance was called into question back in 2019, when it was named Globarena Technologies Private Limited. It was involved in a similar evaluation row in the state board exam in Telangana.

What is CBSE’s OSM portal?

For this year’s evaluation of class 10th and 12th answerbooks, the CBSE employed the use of ‘On-Screen Marking,’ an online portal that allows evaluators to login and assess the scanned digitally uploaded answerbooks of students.

CBSE opens online re-evaluation portal

In another update, CBSE has opened its online portal for verification of issues that have been flagged by students who have queries with the scanned copies of their answer books and re-evaluation of answers.

 “The portal for applying for verification of issues observed in supplied scanned copy of answer book and re-evaluation of answers has been made live on June 2, 2026. Students can avail the facility of verification of issue(s) observed in supplied scanned copy of answer book, if any, and re-evaluation of answer(s) if not satisfied with the evaluation,” the Board said. The portal will remain open from June 2 to June 6 (midnight), stated the Board in an official update.

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