New Delhi, May 28 (H.S.): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has directly held Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan responsible for the controversy surrounding the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.

In a social media post on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi said that regardless of whether an investigation into the matter had been conducted or not, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was directly accountable. He added that if the Prime Minister truly cared about students, the minister would have been removed from his post long ago.

Responding to Pradhan’s remarks alleging frustration over repeated electoral defeats, the Congress leader said that no matter how much the minister attacked him, he would not stop demanding answers on behalf of 1.85 million students.

Rahul Gandhi also raised questions over the awarding of the contract for CBSE’s on-screen evaluation system to the company “COMPET,” which was previously known as Globarena and had allegedly been linked to controversies. He asked under whose instructions the contract was awarded, why no background verification was conducted, and what connections the company’s management had with the government.

Notably, earlier, after a high-level meeting with CBSE officials, Dharmendra Pradhan had told journalists that Rahul Gandhi was opposing the country’s scientific progress due to frustration arising from electoral defeats. Assuring students, the minister had said that he personally accepted responsibility for any inconvenience caused by the system.

CBSE has also issued its response on the matter, stating that the contract was awarded in accordance with the Government of India’s procurement policy. Pradhan further assured that if any irregularity was found, no one would be spared.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar