The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has a new chairman of the board is a major player to be appointed in the country’s school examination system at a crucial point in its school examination system. Mandeep K Bhandari, a 2001 batch IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, has been appointed as the new chairman of the CBSE. His appointment comes at a time when the board is under the microscope for the first time in its first full-scale On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class 12 answer sheets.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved Bhandari's appointment on 25 September. The post has temporarily been elevated to the rank and pay of an Additional Secretary for the rest of his tenure. Bhandari has more than two decades of administrative experience at the education organisation and much of his career was spent working with the Jammu and Kashmir and central government.
Who Is Mandeep K Bhandari?
Mandeep K Bhandari is a senior IAS officer who has served in various administrative positions. Before joining the civil services he was studying medicine and completed his MBBS at Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana. He did earn a gold medal during his medical studies before joining the Indian Administrative Service.
His career in public administration has had several high-profile responsibilities. He has served as deputy commissioner of Leh and Deputy Commissioner of Jammu and has done district-level administration and governance so he has experience in both. He later became Divisional Commissioner of Jammu and also the Chief Executive Officer of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.
Bhandari has also worked in health and medical education very well. His experience in Jammu and Kashmir included carrying out the Health and Medical Education portfolio, adding a specialised administrative aspect to his career.
Mandeep K Bhandari's Central Government Experience
Bhandari has also held important positions at the Centre. Between January and September 2018 he was Private Secretary to the Union Human Resource Development Minister. In this role he had access to policymaking and the functioning of the central education administration.
He then served as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. His central government experience and prior administrative roles have ranged from health and education to public administration and institutional management.
Before being appointed chairman of the CBSE, Bhandari was also Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He was also appointed CEO of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, which added another big institutional responsibility to his portfolio.
Why Mandeep Bhandari's CBSE Appointment Is Significant
Bhandari's appointment comes at a very important time for CBSE. The board's first full-scale implementation of On-Screen Marking for Class 12 answer-sheet evaluation in 2026 became the subject of complaints and scrutiny after the declaration of results.
Under the OSM system, physical answer books are scanned and provided digitally to evaluators. The system was intended to modernise the evaluation process and to make assessment more efficient using digital technology. CBSE had already made the preparations and mock evaluations before the nationwide rollout.
However, students began to complain about scanned answer books after the results were announced. Complaints included blurred pages, missing pages, and students who claimed answer books belonging to other candidates had appeared in their records. Problems were also reported on payment and post-result services.
The issue also attracted government attention. A committee chaired by Capacity Building Commission chairperson S Radha Chauhan was formed to investigate the procurement of services associated with CBSE's On-Screen Marking system.
CBSE defended the integrity of its evaluation process and said some of the allegations about bad scanning were factually incorrect. But the controversy put the board’s digital examination infrastructure under more public scrutiny.
Challenges Before The New CBSE Chairman
Bhandari will take charge as CBSE is preparing for the next academic and examination cycle. He was appointed after the removal of former CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta in June 2026 in the wake of protests and controversy around the Class 12 digital evaluation process in India.
One of the key responsibilities of the new chairman will be to oversee the functioning of the examination system and address concerns that emerged during the transition to digital evaluation. An accurate assessment, reliable technology and a boost in confidence of students, parents and schools are surely to be among the key priorities.
CBSE has already issued instructions for the 2026-27 registration process for Class 10 and Class 12 students and is implementing changes to its examination procedures. As the board moves forward, Bhandari's administrative experience across various sectors will be useful in the eyes of the management of the country’s biggest school examination system.
Students and parents will now focus on how CBSE reacts to the lessons learned from the first large-scale OSM exercise. The new chairman’s appointment is due to be at a time when the board should balance reforms in exam quality with accuracy, transparency and reliability in the assessment process.
