‘Mantri Pradhan’ should resign, ‘Pradhan Mantri’ owes answers: Congress on CBSE glitches

File photo of Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. | Photo credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

As CBSE is set to rope in experts from IIT-Madras and IIT-Kanpur to address technical issues on its post-result service portal, the Congress on Monday (May 25, 2026) hit out at the government, saying the ‘Mantri Pradhan’ should step down and the ‘Pradhan Mantri’ owes the people an explanation as to why the minister was allowed to continue.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the CBSE had introduced the On Screen Marking (OSM) system for the Class 12 board exams, which had thrown the academic future of millions of children across the country into disarray.

“The 12th pass percentage has dropped by an unprecedented 3 percentage points (from 88% to 85%) and the process has been plagued with irregularities – smudged and illegible answer sheets, wrong marking, incorrect answer sheets credited to students, payment delays and outrageous revaluation fees being demanded from X students.

The CBSE introduced the On Screen Marking (OSM) system for the Class 12 board exams, throwing the academic future of millions of children across the country into disarray. The 12th grade percentage dropped an unprecedented 3 percentage points (from 88% to 85%) and…

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 25, 2026

The education minister presiding over a “total institutional collapse” has finally woken up to the “tragedy” more than a week after it first came to light, a Congress leader said.

“He is portraying himself as some sort of savior by bringing in IIT-Kanpur to help address these technical issues. The real question is why were these issues not anticipated? Why did CBSE and the ministry not plan carefully before adopting this OSM system? Why did the minister take so long to respond to this issue?” said Mr. Ramesh.

“Mantri Pradhan owes the country his resignation and Pradhan Mantri owes us answers as to why this minister – who is openly undermining the future of Indian students with his incompetence – has been allowed to continue for so long,” he said.

The Education Ministry on Sunday (May 24, 2026) said the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will engage experts from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and IIT-Kanpur to address technical issues on its post-result service portal.

The move comes amid complaints from students and parents about glitches in the CBSE revaluation process.

The ministry said Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has given instructions to depute teams of professors and technical experts from IIT-Madras and IIT-Kanpur to look into all technical issues reported since the introduction of this year’s post-examination revaluation services and help CBSE ensure a smooth process.

“The expert team will implement targeted technology improvements to systems and technical workflows and will specifically examine portal stability and server performance,” he said.

“The team will also examine the overall robustness of the IT infrastructure and assist in taking corrective actions to ensure that login authentication/user access systems/payment gateways are accurate and in order,” the ministry said in a statement.

Mr. Pradhan reiterated that “students’ interests remain paramount” and that the CBSE must take all necessary corrective measures on priority to ensure a “transparent, efficient and student-friendly system,” the statement added.

On Saturday (May 23, 2026), Mr. Pradhan also sought a detailed report from the CBSE regarding complaints of technical glitches faced by students during the revaluation process.

Published – 25 May 2026 15:19 IST