Amid the OSM portal row, Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition (LoP)Rahul Gandhion Tuesday met 17-year-old student, Sarthak Sidhant, who was responsible for uncovering discrepancies in Coempt EduTeck's contract with theCentral Board of Secondary Education(CBSE). Sharing images of the meeting on social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi wrote in a post loosely translated from Hindi, "Stay firm in your principles".

This comes after Gandhi on Tuesday termed the sacking of the CBSE officials as a "cover-up" exercise, saying that while officials have been removed, the education minister has been spared. The LoP demanded that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan be dismissed and an independent judicial inquiry be ordered immediately.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said if the prime minister had cared about 18.5 lakh students who appeared in the CBSE class 12 exam, then Pradhan would have been removed long ago.

"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," the Congress leader said in his post.

"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.

"If the Prime Minister cared for about the 18.5 lakh CBSE students - Dharmendra Pradhan ji would have been removed long ago," Gandhi said.

The government on Tuesday removed two top CBSE officials following alleged irregularities in the Class 12 digital evaluation system and ordered a probe by a high-powered committee to investigate how the national educational board procured these marking services.

An official said CBSE chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta have been transferred.

Subsequently, the Cabinet Secretariat, through a memorandum, announced the constitution of a one-member committee to inquire into matters relating to the procurement of services for the on-screen marking system (OSM) by the CBSE. The committee will be chaired by S Radha Chauhan, chairperson, Capacity Building Commission, the Cabinet Secretariat said.

Chauhan has been empowered to obtain the assistance of officials from other departments, as required, while the Capacity Building Commission will provide secretarial assistance to the panel.

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