CBSE gets a full-time chairman: Mandeep K. Bhandari appointed

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has appointed Mandeep K. Bhandari, an IAS officer of the 2001 batch (AGMUT cadre), as chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education. He has been serving as Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

The details

• The CBSE post has been temporarily upgraded so that he holds it in the rank and pay of an Additional Secretary to the Government of India.
• Since July the board had been led on an additional-charge basis by a senior officer holding another post at the Union home ministry.
• In a separate order, Ankita Mishra Bundela, who was Additional Secretary in the agriculture ministry, becomes Additional Secretary in the Department of Higher Education.

Why students should care

A board run on additional charge can keep the lights on, but decisions that shape the next exam cycle (the date sheet, evaluation methods, the rollout of the three-language rule) need someone whose only job is CBSE. The board has had a difficult year: its on-screen marking of Class 12 answer sheets drew complaints about blurred and mismatched scans. The 2027 date sheet has not been released yet, and it is one of the first things the new chairperson's office will sign off.

CareerBox News Desk, reporting on the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet’s appointment of a CBSE chairperson. Official portal: cbse.gov.in. Dates and eligibility change; confirm them on the official portal before you act.