New Delhi: The Central government appointed Lokhande Prashant Sitaram as the new Chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), replacing Rahul Singh.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet passed an order approving the appointment of Sitaram in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary.
Sitaram is a 2001-batch AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories) cadre IAS officer who is currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Home under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Sitaram’s predecessor Rahul, who was removed hours earlier in the aftermath of the controversial On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, has been appointed Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
The government also appointed Varun Bhardwaj as the CBSE’s new Secretary in place of Himanshu Gupta, who was also transferred along with Rahul.
Bhardwaj, an Indian Information Service officer of the 2008 batch, is currently Director in the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education. He has been posted as Secretary of CBSE on deputation under the Central Staffing Scheme.
The OSM system, used in CBSE exams, has been under growing scrutiny as students and parents have been questioning its implementation.
The government recently constituted a one-member committee headed by S Radha Chauhan, Chairperson of the Capacity Building Commission, to look into the process of procurement of services for the OSM system.
Congress calls move a ‘cover-up’
The CBSE reshuffle did not amuse the Opposition, which has been calling for the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused the Centre of attempting a “cover-up” rather than fixing accountability.
“CBSE Chairman – Transferred. CBSE Secretary – Transferred. A one-member ‘inquiry’ committee – Formed. And the real culprit, Dharmendra Pradhan – Safe. Officials removed. Minister spared. This isn’t accountability – it’s a cover-up,” Rahul wrote on X.
He renewed the party’s demand for Pradhan’s removal and sought an independent judicial inquiry into the controversy.
“Our demand remains the same today: Dismiss the Education Minister and conduct an independent judicial inquiry – these aren’t some one-month-old internal file of the Modi government to be brushed aside just like that,” Rahul said.
“If the Prime Minister cared for about the 18.5 lakh CBSE students, Dharmendra Pradhan ji would have been removed long ago,” the Congress leader added.
