New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Chairman of Media & Publicity, AICC, Shri Pawan Khera launched a sharp attack on the Modi government on Monday, accusing it of gross negligence and favouritism in the CBSE digital evaluation system that has allegedly compromised the future of lakhs of students.
Addressing the media at the AICC headquarters on 24 Akbar Road, Pawan Khera said the Education Ministry is “on fire” while Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address to discuss mango varieties, jaljeera recipes, and the importance of drinking water in summer.
“While the Prime Minister was teaching the nation how to make aam panna, the youth of this country are battling paper leaks, faulty evaluation, and a collapsing education system,” Khera said.
He highlighted continuous examination irregularities in NEET, NET, CUET, JEE, and now the CBSE board exams. Khera pointed out that a 19-year-old ethical hacker had exposed serious vulnerabilities in the CBSE portal, revealing compromised answer sheets, student personal data, phone numbers, and payment records.
The Congress leader alleged deliberate dilution of tender norms to favour a private company, COEMPT EduTech. He claimed that technical standards were repeatedly relaxed — reducing required DPI from 300 to 200, removing mandatory robotic high-speed scanners, and diluting cybersecurity and past performance criteria — to ensure the company secured the contract for digital evaluation of answer sheets.
“Why were standards diluted? Who ordered these changes? What is the relationship between BJP leaders and this company?” Khera demanded. He also questioned the financial and personal connections, asking the government to come clean before another young hacker exposes more details.
Khera contrasted Rahul Gandhi’s consistent focus on youth issues with the Prime Minister’s public messaging. “One talks about the future of India’s youth, the other talks about varieties of mangoes,” he said.
He further alleged that education budget allocation has dropped sharply from 4.77% under the last UPA government to around 2.5% now. “This is not negligence. This is a crisis. An entire generation is being destroyed,” he warned.
Pawan Khera also criticised the CBSE’s handling of re-evaluation and accused the government of trying to suppress criticism by labelling concerned students as “anti-national.”
He posed several pointed questions to the government, including why warnings from teachers about 36 major flaws in the new digital system were ignored, and whether the government wants to keep the youth uneducated, unemployed, and vulnerable to polarisation.
The fiery press conference comes amid growing nationwide anger over repeated examination scandals that have affected millions of students and their families.
