Mandeep K Bhandari is new CBSE chairman: Meet the IAS officer and MBBS gold medallist

IAS officer Mandeep K Bhandari has been appointed the new CBSE chairman after the board faced scrutiny over its first full-scale On-Screen Marking system for Class 12 answer sheets. A 2001-batch AGMUT officer and MBBS gold medallist, Bhandari has held senior administrative roles in Jammu and Kashmir and at the Centre.

In Short

• Mandeep K Bhandari, a 2001-batch AGMUT IAS officer, has been appointed the new CBSE chief
• The MBBS gold medallist has held key administrative posts in Jammu and Kashmir and Centre
• His appointment comes months after CBSE faced scrutiny over its new Class 12 OSM system

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has a new chairman at a time when one of its biggest examination reforms is still under scrutiny.

Mandeep K Bhandari, a 2001-batch AGMUT-cadre IAS officer, has been appointed the new Chairperson of CBSE. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved his appointment on September 25, with the post temporarily upgraded to the rank and pay of an Additional Secretary.

Bhandari moves to CBSE after more than two decades in administration, much of it involving Jammu and Kashmir and central government assignments.

FROM MEDICINE TO THE IAS

Before entering the civil services, Bhandari trained as a doctor.

He completed his MBBS with a gold medal from Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, before joining the IAS. His administrative career has included postings as Deputy Commissioner of Leh and Deputy Commissioner of Jammu, Divisional Commissioner Jammu and CEO of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

He has also handled Jammu and Kashmir's Health and Medical Education portfolio.

At the Centre, Bhandari served as Private Secretary to the Union Human Resource Development Minister from January to September 2018. He subsequently became Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Before his CBSE appointment, he was serving as Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and also held charge as CEO of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board.

WHY HIS APPOINTMENT COMES AT A CRITICAL TIME

Bhandari takes charge after CBSE's first full-scale rollout of On-Screen Marking, or OSM, for Class 12 answer-book evaluation in 2026. Under the system, physical answer books were scanned and made available digitally to evaluators. CBSE had issued detailed preparation and mock-evaluation instructions ahead of the rollout.

But after the results, students reported problems with scanned answer books, including blurred pages, missing pages and cases where students said they received another student's answer book. There were also technical problems with the payment and post-result services.

The controversy went beyond student complaints. The government constituted a committee headed by Capacity Building Commission chairperson S Radha Chauhan to examine procurement of services for CBSE's OSM system.

CBSE has defended the integrity of its evaluation process and said some allegations about improper scanning were factually incorrect.

THE TASK AHEAD

In June 2026, the Centre removed former CBSE Chairman Rahul Singh and Secretary Himanshu Gupta following massive student protests and controversies regarding the Class 12 OSM digital evaluation system.

Following the ouster of Singh on June 2, senior IAS officer Lokhande Prashant Sitaram was given the additional charge or interim role as CBSE chairperson while serving as an Additional Secretary in the Union Home Ministry. Varun Bhardwaj was appointed as the new CBSE Secretary.

Mandeep K Bhandari's appointment therefore comes as CBSE prepares for another academic and examination cycle.

The board has already issued its 2026-27 instructions for Class 10 and Class 12 candidate registration and continues to implement changes to examination processes.

For students, one of the immediate questions will be how CBSE handles the lessons from its first digital evaluation experiment while maintaining confidence in the board's examination system.

- Ends