Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday questioned the transparency of the tender process adopted by the CBSE for its On-Screen Marking (OSM) digital evaluation system, alleging that technical norms were repeatedly eased to facilitate the award of the contract to private firm COEMPT.Sharing a media report on X, Gandhi alleged that the CBSE altered tender conditions across multiple rounds before finalising the contract and claimed that key technical requirements were diluted in the process.According to Gandhi, the tender process for the OSM system was conducted three times. He claimed that the first round received no bids while no bidder qualified in the second round. Thereafter, he alleged, several conditions were relaxed, including lowering scanning resolution requirements, removing the need for robotic scanners and reducing software certification norms from CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration) Level 5 to Level 3. He further alleged that provisions relating to penalties for errors in answer sheet handling were also removed.Questioning the final outcome, Gandhi claimed that despite qualifying in the third round, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was not awarded the contract, while COEMPT secured the project despite its “poor record”.Referring to recent complaints raised by students, Gandhi alleged that problems such as poorly scanned answer sheets, missing pages and glitches in the evaluation portal reflected shortcomings in the implementation of the system.He also cited concerns allegedly raised by teachers, claiming that educators had earlier advised the CBSE against implementing the OSM system nationwide without further preparation and testing.“The question is not whether procedures were followed on paper, but whether the contract went to the company best equipped to handle a system impacting lakhs of students,” Gandhi said, while demanding an independent judicial probe into the matter.He also questioned who benefited from repeated changes in eligibility criteria and alleged that the future of around 18.5 lakh students had been put at risk because of decisions taken during the procurement process.The Congress leader further alleged the government had failed to adequately respond to concerns surrounding the OSM rollout. He criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent on the controversy and accused the government of prioritising political interests over accountability in matters concerning students.Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya rejected claims of irregularities in the CBSE’s OSM system and accused the Congress leader of creating “panic” around a reform introduced after years of preparation.Malviya said the OSM system, introduced for Class XII Board examinations in 2026, was conceptualised in 2014, but implemented only after studying global practices and obtaining approvals from the examination committee and governing body. He said the rollout was preceded by mock evaluations, teacher training sessions, webinars and practice modules involving schools across the country.Rejecting claims regarding poor-quality scans, Malviya said CBSE had put in place multiple quality checks and allowed evaluators to reject unclear answer scripts for rescanning. He said the new system was aimed at reducing clerical mistakes, preventing skipped questions and ensuring faster and more secure evaluation while retaining human assessment.On the tender process, Malviya said revising technical requirements was a routine procurement exercise and claimed the participation of multiple bidders disproved allegations of favouritism. He also questioned why Congress leaders were criticising COEMPT Eduteck despite the company allegedly securing projects in Congress-ruled Telangana and Karnataka.