New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday attacked the government over the CBSE on-screen marking row, saying the “vote chor, paper chor sarkaar” must go.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which claimed that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has not yet received a sanction order for paying Coempt Edu Teck, its vendor for a controversial on-screen marking system (OSM) that was marred by glitches after it was introduced in its 2026 board examinations for class 12.
“Despite 5 months passing since huge irregularities in the CBSE’s on-screen marking (OSM) system rocked the nation, the culprit vendor COEMPT has not been sanctioned or faced penalties,” Ramesh posted.
On June 1, the CBSE said it would penalise COEMPT but no action has been taken till now, he said.
“Perhaps because the same people in the Ministry of Education and CBSE that awarded this contract through a dodgy process have been tasked with penalising the vendor,” Ramesh alleged.
“Today, a leading daily that has been at the forefront in exposing scams in the CBSE reports that there has been no sanction order or penalties against COEMPT. Previous reports showed that the OSM tender was altered to remove the clause to blacklist vendors that were unable to deliver – just months before COEMPT got the contract. The total value of the contract was over Rs 38 crore,” he said.
This shows that nothing has changed in the education ministry despite the massive student andolan, Ramesh said.
The new minister is continuing to protect the vendors he has inherited, he alleged.
“The Vote Chor, Paper Chor Sarkaar must go,” Ramesh said.
