Dharmendra Pradhan meeting with officials of public sector banks
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday discussed in detail the improvement in the payment gateway system of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) with senior officials of four public sector banks. An official statement said that representatives of State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Indian Bank participated in this meeting. This development has come to light amid concerns being raised by students regarding recent payment and technical difficulties faced by students during the post-CBSE results and re-evaluation process. The Minister stressed the need for a strong, reliable and student-friendly digital payment ecosystem, especially for post-examination services like re-evaluation, photocopy of answer sheets and other fee-based processes.
instructions given to banks
He directed banks to assist CBSE in setting up robust payment protocols to ensure timely transactions, prompt resolution of payment issues and automatic refunds in case of excess or failed payments. The statement said that banks have been asked to work closely with CBSE to strengthen the payment gateway infrastructure through advanced technical security measures, real-time monitoring and a system for speedy resolution of complaints. Pradhan urged senior officials to give top priority to this initiative, so that in future students do not have to face problems like technical glitches or failure in payment. He appealed to the banks to ensure smooth, secure and efficient digital transactions.
Finance Minister also discussed
The statement said that the four banks assured full cooperation and said that they are committed to implementing better protocols and technical improvements as soon as possible in coordination with CBSE. On May 24, Pradhan had discussed with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman the recent payment and technical glitches faced by students during the CBSE results and re-evaluation processes. The Education Ministry had said that during the discussion, it was decided that four public sector banks (PSBs) — State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Indian Bank — will help CBSE in strengthening its payment gateway infrastructure and necessary integration with the post-examination portal.
Many problems were encountered
Pradhan had also directed that teams of professors and technical experts from IIT-Madras and IIT-Kanpur be deployed to investigate all the technical issues encountered after the commencement of this year’s re-evaluation services and help CBSE ensure a seamless process. Meanwhile, IIT-Madras director V. Kamakoti on Tuesday said a four-member team from the institute and IIT-Kanpur has started investigating the recent technical issues faced by the CBSE portal, including payment failures and allegations related to uploading of answer sheets. He also said that the CBSE portal has remained stable for the last “more than 72 hours”. Following concerns raised by some students and parents regarding the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, CBSE has started the process of re-evaluation and verification of answer sheets.
