Agencies | New Delhi:
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Friday appointed 2001-batch AGMUT-cadre IAS officer Mandeep K Bhandari as its new Chairperson, nearly four months after the board faced scrutiny over its newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for evaluating Class 12 answer sheets.
The appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) and notified through an order issued by the Department of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The order said the post of CBSE Chairperson has been temporarily upgraded to the rank and pay of an Additional Secretary to the Government of India.
Bhandari’s appointment comes as the board continues to address concerns raised over the implementation of its digital evaluation system during the 2026 Class 12 examination cycle.
CBSE introduced the OSM system in 2026 as part of its transition towards digital evaluation. Under the system, physical answer sheets were scanned and made available electronically to evaluators for assessment.
The board had conducted mock exercises and issued instructions to teachers ahead of the rollout. Preparations included collection of teacher data, digital evaluation guidelines and mock evaluation exercises.
However, the system came under criticism after students seeking access to their scanned answer books reported problems on the portal following declaration of the Class 12 results.
Some students alleged that the scans available to them were blurred or incomplete, while others reported missing pages and instances in which the answer sheets displayed on the portal allegedly did not belong to them. Technical issues were also reported with the payment system used to access answer books.
The concerns prompted scrutiny of the digital evaluation process as well as the procurement and security arrangements associated with the system.
Bhandari is a senior AGMUT-cadre IAS officer who has held several key administrative positions in Jammu and Kashmir as well as at the Centre.
A medical graduate with an MBBS degree, Bhandari has served as Deputy Commissioner of Leh and Deputy Commissioner of Jammu. He also served as Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, and held senior responsibilities in the Jammu and Kashmir administration.
At the Centre, he served as Private Secretary to the Union Human Resource Development Minister from January to September 2018 and subsequently worked as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Bhandari has also served as Chief Executive Officer of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and held responsibilities in Jammu and Kashmir’s Health and Medical Education Department.
His latest assignment places him at the helm of the CBSE, which oversees school education and board examinations affiliated with the central education system.
