Rahul Gandhi Accuses Centre, CBSE of Compromising Class 12 Evaluation Process; Alleges Answer Sheets Were Scanned on Phones

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday accused the Centre and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) of compromising the evaluation process for Class 12 board examinations, alleging that changes to tender specifications allowed answer sheets to be scanned using mobile phones.

The Congress leader was responding to allegations made by Jharkhand-based Class 12 student Sarthak Sidhant, who claimed that CBSE gradually relaxed technical and eligibility requirements across three rounds of tendering, ultimately benefiting the company that secured the on-screen marking (OSM) contract.

The allegations come at a time when CBSE is facing scrutiny over reported technical glitches in its post-result portal and claims of irregularities in evaluated answer sheets.

Rahul Gandhi’s Allegations

In a post on X, Gandhi pointed to differences between CBSE’s original tender issued in May 2025 and a revised version released in August the same year.

According to Gandhi, the initial tender mandated the use of automatic robotic scanners, preservation of answer-sheet spines and a minimum scanning resolution of 300 DPI. He alleged that those requirements were later removed or weakened.

“CBSE’s May 2025 tender required answer sheets to be scanned with automatic robotic scanners, spines preserved, at a minimum of 300 DPI. The tender reissued in August quietly removed all of it. ‘Scanners’ became generic. Resolution dropped to 200 DPI,” he said.

Gandhi further alleged that the changes resulted in answer sheets being scanned using mobile phones.

“It has been exposed that COEMPT scanned the answer sheets using mobile phones. The blurred copies, the missing pages, the unscanned books — they are not ‘errors’. They are the predictable outcome of a contract written to fit a vendor,” he claimed.

Calling the issue a “fraud”, Gandhi said students whose marks may have been affected were victims of the alleged lapses.

The Congress MP also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, questioning why the government had not publicly addressed the controversy.

Student’s Research Triggers Row

Gandhi’s comments were based on findings shared by Sarthak Sidhant, who said he examined procurement documents available on the Central Public Procurement Portal and later published his analysis online.

According to Sidhant, the technical and eligibility criteria for the OSM contract were progressively relaxed through successive rounds of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, eventually enabling Hyderabad-based Coempt Edu Teck to qualify. He alleged that several of the revised requirements closely matched the company’s profile.

CBSE May Act Against Vendor

Amid the controversy, CBSE is reportedly preparing to take action against Coempt Edu Teck over issues linked to the online evaluation process.

Officials familiar with the matter said the company could face penalties under provisions included in the tender document issued in August 2025.

The contract reportedly contains strict financial penalty clauses, including fines of ₹1 lakh for every 15-minute delay in resolving technical issues reported by CBSE officials. The provisions also allow for withholding security deposits and, in severe cases, termination of the contract.

The allegations have intensified demands for transparency and accountability in the board’s evaluation process, with questions being raised about whether changes in procurement norms contributed to the reported problems in answer-sheet assessment.