CBSE’s OSM Glitch Sparks Outcry – Minister Chirag Paswan Promises Fast‑Track Fix for Affected Students

When the Central Board of Secondary Education rolled out its new Online School Management (OSM) portal earlier this month, the intention was clear: streamline exam registration, cut down paperwork and give students a smoother experience. Instead, the platform hiccupped, leaving a flood of students – and their nervous parents – staring at error messages and dead‑end screens.

It wasn’t just a handful of isolated complaints. Social media feeds lit up with screenshots of failed login attempts, screenshots of “service unavailable” notices, and frantic messages from students in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and beyond. Some reported that they had already paid the registration fee, only to see the portal refuse to acknowledge their payment. Others said the deadline was ticking down while they were stuck in a digital limbo.

“I tried three times, each time the same error,” said Riya Sharma, a Class‑12 student from Delhi. “I’m scared I’ll miss the deadline and lose the chance to appear for the board exams.” Her anxiety was echoed by dozens of other hopefuls, prompting parents to march to CBSE offices and lodge formal grievances.

The controversy soon reached the halls of Parliament. Union Minister of State for Information Technology and Electronics, Chirag Paswan, was asked to comment on the growing unrest. In a brief press interaction, Paswan acknowledged the problem, noting that “technical glitches happen, but we cannot let them affect the future of our students.” He added that the Ministry, in coordination with CBSE, had already set up a dedicated task force to address the issue.

“We are treating this as a high‑priority matter,” Paswan said, his tone a mix of reassurance and urgency. “All affected students will receive immediate assistance, and we are working on a backup registration mechanism that can be activated within the next 24‑48 hours.” He promised that the board would extend the registration deadline, giving everyone a fair window to complete the process.

CBSE officials, meanwhile, have issued an apology and confirmed that the OSM platform was undergoing a scheduled upgrade that inadvertently caused the downtime. “We regret the inconvenience caused to students and parents,” a CBSE spokesperson said. “Our technical team is working round the clock to restore full functionality, and we will communicate any further steps through official channels.”

While the promise of a swift fix is welcome, many students remain skeptical. “Promises are fine, but we need action now,” remarked Amit Verma, a senior from Mumbai. “If the portal isn’t working by tomorrow, we’ll be forced to take a leave of absence from our studies.”

As of the time of writing, the OSM portal appears to be back online, though some users still report intermittent issues. The Ministry’s task force is reportedly reviewing logs and has scheduled a live chat support line for the next 72 hours to field individual queries.

For now, the key takeaway is that the government is aware, and official channels are being mobilized to prevent any student from missing out on their crucial board examinations. Whether these measures will be enough to quell the frustration remains to be seen, but the promise of “high‑priority” attention certainly adds a note of optimism to a otherwise stressful situation.