Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday held extensive talks with senior officials of four public sector banks on revamping the payment gateway system of the Central Board of Secondary Education.
The meeting was attended by representatives of State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Indian Bank, an official statement said.
The development comes amid concerns over the recent payment and technical issues faced by students during the CBSE post-result and re-evaluation processes.
The minister stressed the need for a robust, reliable and student-friendly digital payment ecosystem, particularly for post-examination services such as re-evaluation, obtaining photocopies of answer sheets and other fee-based processes.
He directed the banks to assist the CBSE in establishing robust payment protocols to ensure timely transactions, immediate resolution of payment-related issues, and automatic refunds in cases of excess or failed payments.
The banks have been asked to work closely with the CBSE to strengthen the payment gateway infrastructure through advanced technical safeguards, real-time monitoring and faster grievance redressal mechanisms, the statement said.
Pradhan urged the senior officials to accord the highest priority to this initiative so that students do not face technical glitches or payment failures in the future.
He called upon the banks to ensure smooth, secure, and efficient digital transactions.
The four banks assured full support and said they are committed to implementing enhanced protocols and technical upgrades at the earliest, in coordination with CBSE, the statement said.
On May 24, Pradhan had held discussions with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman regarding the recent payment and technical issues faced by students during the CBSE post-result and re-evaluation processes.
During the discussion, it was decided that four public sector banks (PSBs) -- the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and Indian Bank -- will assist the CBSE in strengthening its payment gateway infrastructure and the necessary integration with the post-examination portal, the education ministry had said.
Pradhan had also directed that teams of professors and technical experts from IIT-Madras and IIT-Kanpur be deputed to examine all the technical issues reported since the rollout of this year's re-evaluation services and assist the CBSE in ensuring a glitch-free process.
Meanwhile, IIT-Madras Director V Kamakoti on Tuesday said a four-member team from the institute and IIT-Kanpur has begun examining the recent glitches in the CBSE portal, including payment failures and allegations related to answer sheet uploads.
He also said the CBSE's portal had remained stable for the last "72 hours-plus".
The CBSE has begun the process for re-evaluation and verification of answer sheets following concerns raised by some students and parents over the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system.
(With inputs from PTI)
