'Focusing on what went wrong, not firefighting': IIT Madras Director Kamakoti on probing CBSE's OSM row

IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti informed that a four-member expert team has been deployed to audit the CBSE revaluation portal following widespread complaints by students.

IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti on Tuesday told Deccan Herald that a four-member expert team from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and IIT Kanpur has been deployed to conduct a technical audit of the Central Board of Secondary Education’s re-evaluation and post-result digital infrastructure after students faced multiple issues while accessing scanned answer sheets and applying for verification and re-evaluation.

The move comes after students reported several technical issues on CBSE’s portal in the days following the declaration of Class 12 board results, including payment gateway failures, portal inaccessibility, delays in receiving scanned answer sheets, and difficulties accessing re-evaluation services.

Amid the growing complaints, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had announced that experts from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur would assist CBSE in strengthening the technological infrastructure supporting the OSM-related re-evaluation process.

Speaking to DH online about the IIT teams’ role, Kamakoti clarified that the experts are primarily examining the technical architecture, audit systems, and operational processes behind the portal infrastructure.

“So basically, we will be doing what you could call a full medical check-up of this entire website and system. We want to understand what could have gone wrong and what improvements can be made to strengthen the system further,” he said.

According to Kamakoti, most of the immediate portal-related issues now appear to have stabilised, and the focus has shifted towards identifying the root causes behind the initial failures.

“As we are speaking now, over the last 72 hours, most of the glitches appear to have been resolved and students are now able to apply and access the system properly. So our immediate focus is not firefighting, but understanding what went wrong in the first place, what could have been done differently, and how the system can be made more robust,” he explained.

He said the IIT teams would analyse audit logs, examine infrastructure systems, study technological interventions, and review the overall workflow before suggesting improvements and stronger protocols for future deployment.

“Based on this, we will try to provide suggestions and a stronger Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for deploying systems of this scale more effectively in the future,” Kamakoti said.

The IIT Madras Director also confirmed that the team currently working on the exercise consists of one professor and one senior project staff member from IIT Madras, and two professors from IIT Kanpur.

“Something clearly went wrong”

While defending the broader concept of digital evaluation, Kamakoti acknowledged that technical failures had occurred during implementation.

“Of course, something has clearly gone wrong in the implementation because there were technical glitches. That is exactly what we are trying to examine. Where the problem emerged, what caused the failures, and how the system can be strengthened,” he said.

“Our aim is to identify the root cause of what happened during those initial 48 hours and ensure that the system becomes far more robust moving forward,” he added.

CBSE’s newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system has been facing a series of allegations and complaints since the declaration of Class 12 board examination results. Initially, several students alleged unexpectedly low scores and evaluation discrepancies.

The controversy deepened further after the board opened the re-evaluation and scanned answer sheet access portal, with students alleging blurry scans, missing pages, unchecked answers, answer sheet mismatches, and discrepancies in the copies uploaded by CBSE.

“A very welcome move”

Despite the controversy, Kamakoti described OSM as a positive and transparent reform overall.

“I would still say this is a good system overall. When evaluation becomes transparent, students and parents gain more confidence in the process,” he said.

He pointed out that one of the biggest advantages of digital evaluation is the ability to distribute answer sheets to evaluators across the country.

“Another major advantage of on-screen evaluation is that answer sheets can be distributed to evaluators across India. CBSE reportedly involved around 77,000 teachers in the evaluation process. That kind of nationwide distribution becomes possible because of digital evaluation,” he said.

Kamakoti also argued that the system could potentially reduce bias during re-evaluation.

“In traditional physical evaluation, if a paper goes for re-evaluation, the second evaluator may already see the marks or markings made by the first evaluator, which can introduce bias. In an on-screen system, the evaluator does not necessarily know the earlier marks awarded, allowing for a much more neutral and unbiased reassessment,” he explained.

At the same time, he acknowledged that concerns raised by students regarding incorrect scans and uploads would need to be addressed seriously.

“Those concerns will have to be resolved. But at least now, students are able to identify problems and raise appeals because they can actually see their evaluated copies,” he said.

Reiterating support for the system while emphasising the need for stronger technical safeguards, Kamakoti said IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur would continue working closely with CBSE.

“The system simply needs to become technically stronger and more robust,” he added.