Rahul Gandhi CBSE Controversy: Mobile Scanning Claims Rock OSM Tender Row

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi increased his criticism of the government and CBSE, bringing up new corruption claims about the board's tender process for the Class 12 on-screen marking (OSM) system.

He highlighted reports that answer sheets were scanned using mobile phones instead of the correct equipment.

Gandhi echoed concerns from Class 12 student Sarthak Sidhant, who noticed problems with how CBSE gave out the contract for its first big digital evaluation. Here's what he posted on X.

Rahul Gandhi CBSE Controversy: Alleges Congress Leader

CBSE Tender Controversy: In a post on X, the Congress leader said COEMPT Edu Teck, the company in charge of digitisation, used mobile phones to scan answer sheets after important technical rules were made less strict during the tender process.

CBSE’s May 2025 tender required answer sheets to be scanned with automatic robotic scanners, spines preserved, at a minimum of 300 DPI.

"When the tender resurfaced in August, all of it had quietly vanished," Gandhi wrote.

The board changed the tender and made the requirements easier to help one company, which he called part of the alleged wrongdoing.

Mobile Phone Scanning Allegations: Exam Scans Under Scrutiny

Rahul Gandhi CBSE Controversy: Gandhi also said that any student whose marks were affected by mistakes was a victim of fraud.

'Scanners' became a general term. The resolution dropped to 200 DPI. Now we see what that meant in practice.

COEMPT's use of mobile phones to scan answer sheets has come to light.

The blurred copies, the missing pages, and the unscanned books are not 'errors'. They are the predictable result of a contract made to suit a vendor. This is fraud," he said.

18.5 Lakh Students Affected, Yet PM Silent: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi CBSE Latest News: Taking aim at the government, Rahul said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not spoken about the issue, even though it affects nearly 18.5 lakh students.

He also called for the Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, to step down again.

The new allegations stem from social media posts by 19-year-old ethical hacker Nisarga Adhikary, who identified additional weaknesses in the OSM portal.

Rahul Gandhi CBSE Controversy: Adhikary Shares Screenshots of Scanned Answer Booklets

Adhikary shared screenshots of scanned answer booklets and said security could be bypassed, letting "anyone on the internet" access and download scans of the answer sheets.

While looking at the images posted online, Sarthak Sidhant found another issue. He saw clear drop shadows and fold marks on several scanned answer sheets.

For those unfamiliar, drop shadows usually show up in photos or scans taken with handheld mobile devices, not in scans from flatbed or automated scanners.

"Since the copies are out to the public view, do you mind explaining which copies, when scanned through a scanner, have a drop shadow? And these 3 folds? Did you really use scanners?" Sarthak wrote on X.

CBSE Board Exams 2026: Fresh Controversy Erupts Over CBSE’s Digitisation Deal

The controversy has increased in recent weeks, as students, cybersecurity experts, and opposition leaders have questioned both the security and the setup of the OSM system.

The primary issue is the accusation that CBSE loosened norms while awarding the digitisation contract.

Critics say some technical and security requirements were weakened between the first tender in May and the revised one in August.

CBSE OSM Row: Board To Take Action Against The Vendor

The board will take action against its on-screen marking (OSM) service provider, Coempt Edu Teck, due to problems with the online evaluation of Class 12 answer sheets, officials told HT on Sunday.

Officials said the Hyderabad-based company will face penalties according to the rules in the tender document from August 2025.

The document lists different financial penalties depending on how quickly issues are resolved.

For example, the company can be fined Rs 1 lakh for every 15-minute delay in fixing a problem after a CBSE official reports it to the helpdesk. The rules also let the board withhold security deposits and end the contract.