CBSE Gets New Chairman and Secretary Amid OnMark Controversy

On June 2, 2026 — the same afternoon a parliamentary standing committee grilled CBSE officials over their On-Screen Marking (OSM) system — the Ministry of Education transferred the board's chairman and secretary and simultaneously ordered a formal probe into how the OSM contract was awarded. By evening, two new faces were in place: Lokhande Prashant Sitaram as the new Chairperson and Varun Bhardwaj as the new Secretary. The pace of the moves was striking; the substance behind them had been building for months.

What Happened on June 2

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved two back-to-back personnel orders on June 2, 2026. Rahul Singh, a 1996-batch Bihar-cadre IAS officer who had headed CBSE since March 2024, was transferred as Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. His departure was framed as a routine inter-ministry posting.

Outgoing Secretary Himanshu Gupta, a 2012-batch IAS officer, received a sharper administrative signal: the ACC approved his premature repatriation to his parent cadre, the Ministry of Home Affairs, on "administrative grounds" with an "extended cooling-off" condition attached — language that signals the government wanted a clean break.

In their place, the government named Lokhande Prashant Sitaram as Chairperson and Varun Bhardwaj as Secretary of CBSE, New Delhi. Both appointments take effect immediately. Bhardwaj's tenure is fixed until September 19, 2027, under the Central Staffing Scheme.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's ministry issued a concurrent office memorandum, dated June 2, constituting a one-member inquiry committee to examine the procurement process for the OSM platform. The committee is chaired by S. Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, and has been asked to submit its report within one month to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

The OSM Crisis in Brief

How the Controversy Began

CBSE introduced On-Screen Marking — digitally scanning answer sheets and having evaluators mark them on-screen — for Class 12 board examinations in 2025-26. The contract was awarded to Coempt Edutech (also referred to in some reports as Coempt EduTeck).

Student complaints mounted quickly after results were declared. A significant number of Class 12 students alleged that the scanned answer sheets made available to them online did not match their handwriting, raising questions about whether the correct sheets had been evaluated. A separate concern surfaced when Nisarga Adhikary, a 19-year-old ethical hacker, claimed in February 2026 — before the evaluation cycle concluded — that he had identified authentication vulnerabilities in the portal's login and access-control systems, including what he alleged was a "master password" embedded in publicly accessible JavaScript files. He reported his findings to CERT-In.

CBSE responded that the domain flagged, cbse.onmark.co.in, was an internal testing platform carrying only sample data, and that no actual evaluation data, marks, or student records were stored there. The board maintained that no security breach had been identified in the live evaluation system.

The Tender Irregularity Allegations

The controversy deepened beyond the cybersecurity angle. Student Sarthak Sidhant, 17, from Jharkhand — one of the complainants who had investigated the procurement trail — alleged at the June 2 parliamentary panel hearing that CBSE altered its tender criteria in ways that appeared to advantage Coempt Edutech. In his presentation, Sidhant pointed to the removal of three clauses from the original Request for Proposal (RFP) that would have disqualified service providers with a record of poor performance. "In the old tender, there were three clauses of poor performance, that the service provider would be disqualified if they have poor performance. But in the new RFP, it was totally wiped out," he told the committee, according to ANI. He also drew attention to Coempt's reported earlier history under the name Globarena in Telangana, where the firm had been associated with board examination work.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi entered the debate separately, alleging "massive tampering" in results and demanding an independent judicial inquiry as well as an SIT probe.

The Parliamentary Hearing on June 2

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports — chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh — held a hearing on the OSM controversy on the same day as the leadership transfers. CBSE officials appeared before the panel alongside student Sarthak Sidhant, who made a formal presentation.

Committee chair Digvijaya Singh stated after the session that the panel would deliberate on the issues raised and the responses submitted by CBSE before preparing a draft report for members. He indicated that the committee would consider students' concerns seriously and that the process would follow its standard deliberative path.

CBSE officials faced direct questions about institutional accountability during the hearing. The committee did not issue immediate findings or a public order; the formal report will follow the standard parliamentary committee timeline.

The political context around the hearing was heated. Multiple opposition parties — Congress and AAP among them — demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, characterising the simultaneous leadership transfers as a "cover-up." These are political positions that remain unsubstantiated as formal findings. The government has not publicly attributed the transfers to any finding of wrongdoing; it framed them as administrative decisions alongside the ordering of a proper inquiry.

The New Leadership: Who They Are

Lokhande Prashant Sitaram — New Chairperson

Lokhande Prashant Sitaram is a 2001-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) cadre. Before his CBSE appointment, he was serving as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs. The AGMUT cadre, which handles Union Territory administrations including Delhi, gives its officers exposure to complex multi-stakeholder governance environments. His background is in Home Ministry-linked administration rather than education policy specifically; he brings the seniority and administrative weight that a board under institutional scrutiny typically needs in a transitional period.

Varun Bhardwaj — New Secretary

Varun Bhardwaj is a 2008-batch Indian Information Service (IInfOS) officer, not an IAS officer — a distinction worth noting. The Indian Information Service is a Central Service handling government communications and public affairs. At the time of his appointment, Bhardwaj was serving as Director in the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education. His positioning within the education ministry's own higher education department means he brings direct working familiarity with the ministry's ongoing programmes, policy structures, and inter-departmental lines of communication. His appointment as Secretary — a position with operational rather than statutory-head responsibilities — follows a pattern of placing officers with ministry-adjacent experience in administrative support roles at autonomous bodies.

Recent CBSE Chairpersons

Year	Chairperson	Tenure Context
2010–2014	Vineet Joshi	First stint; oversaw CCE reforms under RTE
2017–2020	Anita Karwal	Administered during NEP consultations
2020–2022	Manoj Ahuja	Pandemic-era examination adjustments
2022	Vineet Joshi	Second stint; succeeded Ahuja
2022–2024	Nidhi Chhibber	Transition to NEP-aligned curricula
Mar 2024–Jun 2026	Rahul Singh	Oversaw OSM rollout; transferred June 2, 2026
Jun 2026–	Lokhande Prashant Sitaram	Appointed amid OSM controversy

Note: Exact handover dates for earlier tenures are sourced from publicly available records; some overlaps reflect acting arrangements.

What Students and Parents Should Know Now

Re-Evaluation Portal Is Live

CBSE launched its verification and re-evaluation portal for Class 12 students on June 1, 2026 — one day before the leadership transfers. The portal allows students to apply for scanned copies of their answer sheets, review marking, and file formal applications for verification or re-evaluation. The portal's launch was delayed earlier due to the technical and cybersecurity concerns surrounding OSM, but the board confirmed it is now operational.

Students can reach the CBSE Tele-Counselling Helpline at 1800 11 8004 or write to resultcbse2026@cbseshiksha.in for guidance on the process.

Two-Stage Process

The re-evaluation pathway follows two stages. In the first, students apply to receive their scanned answer book. Having reviewed it, they can then apply for verification of marks or formal re-evaluation if they identify specific concerns. CBSE has maintained that the re-evaluation process is administratively independent of the leadership change and will continue without disruption.

Class 10 Not Directly Affected by OSM

The OSM controversy centres on Class 12 evaluation. Class 10 students are not implicated in the current dispute. Their re-checking and re-evaluation processes follow standard CBSE procedures.

Examination Schedule Continuity

CBSE has not announced any changes to its examination calendar or result declaration schedule as a result of the leadership transition. The board's operational structure — regional offices, examination centres, affiliate schools — functions under standing administrative orders that do not require the Chairperson's intervention for routine activities. Parents whose children are awaiting supplementary examination schedules or compartment results should monitor cbse.gov.in for official notifications.

What to Watch

• Inquiry committee report timeline: S. Radha Chauhan's one-member committee has until approximately July 2, 2026, to submit its findings to DoPT on the OSM procurement process. The report's key question — whether the tender criteria were altered in procedurally irregular ways — will determine whether further action follows.
• Parliamentary committee report: The Standing Committee on Education has received CBSE's official response and Sarthak Sidhant's presentation. Its draft report, once circulated to members and tabled in Parliament, will carry formal authority and may contain recommendations on OSM procurement standards, student redress mechanisms, and CBSE accountability structures.
• Re-evaluation outcome data: CBSE is expected to publish aggregate data on the number of re-evaluation applications received and outcomes. A high volume of mark changes — or conversely, a very low rate — will be significant for assessing whether the underlying evaluation concerns were systemic or isolated.
• Coempt Edutech's status: Whether the inquiry committee recommends contract termination, blacklisting, or other action against the vendor will have implications beyond this cycle — for CBSE's future digital procurement and for other boards watching the OSM model.
• Lokhande's first public communications: The new Chairperson has not issued a public statement as of June 3. His first engagements with students, parents, and the media will signal whether the new leadership intends to address the OSM concerns proactively or manage them within the inquiry framework.
• Ministerial accountability: Opposition demands for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation are pending the inquiry outcome. Whether the parliamentary committee's eventual report draws any conclusions about ministerial oversight will be closely watched.