The central government has transferred CBSE chairman Rahul Singh and secretary Himanshu Gupta following concerns over alleged irregularities in the board’s digital evaluation system for Class 12 examinations.

Indian Administrative Service officer Prashant Sitaram Lokhande has been appointed chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Varun Bhardwaj, a 2008-batch Indian Information Service officer, has been made secretary of the education board.

Prior to this, Lokhande, who is from the 2001 AGMUT cadre, had been serving as additional secretary at the Union Home Ministry. Before his appointment as CBSE secretary, Bhardwaj served in the education ministry.

The move comes after students reported that scanned copies of their answer scripts uploaded by the board did not match their handwriting, raising questions about possible answer-sheet mismatches in the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.

The controversy has led to concerns among students and parents regarding the implementation of the digital evaluation process. CBSE has also faced criticism over technical issues, payment failures and delays in verification and re-evaluation procedures.

The transfers were confirmed by officials on Tuesday as scrutiny of the board’s examination processes continues.

Also Read: CBSE opens portal for verification, re-evaluation of Class 12 board exam answer sheets